


Proposition

by DarkHell616



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Cheating, Emotional Infidelity, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Married Loki, POV First Person, Pregnancy, Propositions, Shared Partners, Surrogacy, unnamed Protagonist - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2019-08-23 06:44:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 32
Words: 37,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16613909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkHell616/pseuds/DarkHell616
Summary: Upon returning home from a job well done I find a letter waiting for me, one asking me to meet up for a possible job offer that would end up changing my life forever.





	1. The Letter

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally a one-shot in my Loki series that I completely forgot about, that is until I was searching through them earlier to see which ones I need to make sequels to and I figured; "You know what? Stuff it, I may as well make this a longer series to itself."  
> I hope you enjoy another bit of brainmush from Hell.

The sky over the village was dark and grey, nothing unusual for us to see, it seemed as if that sky was always grey and threatening to storm.

With it being winter, the dark clouds mixed with the gradual fading of light and made everything more ominous, perhaps that should have been a sign of things to come.

But I had been oblivious, I was in my element that day when I headed home, a bag full of goods resting heavily against my back from that week’s collection of jobs.

I’d finished them surprisingly early, I hadn’t planned on being home before at least twelve days and had warned my housemate and best friend of such, she’d be surprised when I stroll through the door earlier and heavier than intended.

Working odd jobs for money was our only income, some weeks we were plentiful but more often than not we were stuck scraping by the skin of our teeth, especially at this time of year when the days were short and jobs were next to none.

Living on the outskirts of Asgard was difficult for many of us, our village consisted of mostly run-down huts that needed some serious doing up, especially the thatch work roofs that were meant to protect us from the weather.

Rain finally started to pour like the clouds had been threatening just as I approached my own home, the cold drops instantly causing me to shiver as the ice-cold water seeped into my clothes.

Hastily forcing the door open, noting once again how we should get a proper lock and not rely on the tight wedging of our door being classed as protection, I stepped inside the front door which instantly opened into our dining area and finally dropped the now damp bag onto the floor with a heavy thud.

“I return bearing gifts!” I called out, grinning despite my shivering state.

A flickering of candlelight moved down the hall just to my right and soon Ezabella stepped into view, her eyes tired but evidently happy that I was home.

Her green-grey eyes glanced at the bag resting against my leg and they widened ever so slightly.

“Wow, that’s an impressive stash.”

“Right? This’ll keep us going for at least two weeks.”

“Good, we don’t exactly have an influx of job invitations coming in.”

“Not at all?” I frowned, peeling off my wet outer robe.

“No,” she sighed, “but I did get one that’ll take me away for two weeks.”

“I see, is that soon?”

“Within the next month, I had to confirm that I was willing to do it before they’d send me a date.”

I eyed her suspiciously as I threw my cloak onto a hook to allow it to dry out.

“That sounds ominous.”

“And it could be,” she smiled, “but we can deal with ominous, remember the spirit hunts we had to do?”

“How can I forget?”

I laughed and shook my head at the memory, a small village had caught us just as we were about to leave for another job and claimed to be fearful of the spirits that lived in the woods.

We’d set about investigating, only for it to be a lost family who had taken refuge in a cave hidden amongst the trees.

“If it’s another spirit hunt, count me in,” I grinned, “I love that horror stuff.”

“I know, but unfortunately for you it isn’t, luckily for you it seems that you may have your own job to keep you busy.”

Ezabella picked up a letter from atop out small dining table and held it out to me, her face calm and not giving away the fact if she had opened it or not.

It wasn’t unusual for us to open letters, scrolls or packages that were addressed to the other.

Taking the letter from her, I hastily turned it over and searched for any indication of where it had come from, but there was nothing but my name on the front in blocky writing and a green wax seal on the back.

Glancing at Ezabella, I shrugged before peeling the wax away on one side and unfolding the letter, she moved closer wordlessly so that the candlelight illuminated the paper and made it easier to read.

One day we’d be able to live somewhere with electrical lighting, it was strange to think there were still places near somewhere as advanced as Asgard that didn’t have the advantages that they had.

“So what does it say?” She asked, peering over my shoulder.

“It’s a meet-up date.”

“Meet-up? With who?”

“I don’t know,” I shook my head with a frown.

“That’s just creepy, are you going to go?”

I shrugged a little, looking at her, “I guess, I mean a job is a job right? And it’s in a public place.”

“I’m not sure you should.”

Her worried look made me smile and I placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“It’ll be fine, a job is a job and if I don’t like what they’re proposing I’ll say no, but I’ll think about it first.”

I let go of her shoulder and folded the letter back up to tuck it into my belt, choosing to focus on unpacking my goods and sharing them with Ezabella.

Hoisting the bag off the floor and throwing it over my shoulder, I headed into the kitchen with Ezabella following behind me, both of us in silence as I thought over what I should do.


	2. The Tavern

“I’m still not entirely certain that you should go.”

Ezabella set down two loaded plates into the table, a nice portion of meat and stack of vegetables, then pulled out her stool and sat opposite me, her eyes full of concern.

“Relax,” I smiled as reassuringly as I could, “I’ll be fine.”

“But it could be something really sketchy.”

“And we can’t turn down a possible job invitation just because it’s a bit uncertain,” I sighed, picking up my fork and stabbing a large piece of broccoli, “if we did that then we’d never go to any job offers.”

“I know,” she frowned, cutting into her food as she stared down at it, “but I just feel like something will go wrong.”

I looked at her whilst chewing my mouthful and then looked away, unable to take that horrible sad face she’d pull when she was worried.

It tore at my heart every time.

“Ezabella, I’ll be alright, we’re meeting in a very public place where I’m well known and if I feel as if I’m in any danger then I know the area well enough to seek help.”

She looked up at me with her mixed coloured eyes faintly watered, as if they threatened to spill unshed tears.

“You promise?”

“Of course, I have to come back to annoy my best friend, don’t I?”

Ezabella shook her head and huffed a laugh while smiling wryly.

“Now I wish you wouldn’t.”

“Too bad,” I hummed, grabbing my knife to slice into my own meat, “if I don’t come back with a job, I am definitely coming back at least a little drunk.”

“Great, so I have to look after your ass.”

We both laughed then settled into a comfortable silence as we ate, her face now settled in an expression that didn’t worry me as she fretted over my wellbeing.

If there was anything I didn’t want her to overdo, it was worrying herself sick about me.

Once our plates were cleared and our mugs were drained, I got up to wash everything and put it away ready for the next day’s use, then I headed to my room and got ready for my meeting.

I didn’t wear anything too elaborate, mostly because I didn’t own anything of the sort, but I wanted to at least look smart when meeting about a possible business transaction.

Crouching down in front of a trunk that sat in the furthest corner of my room, I heaved open the lid and started fishing through for the required outfit.

One of my personal favourites, a pair of thick black leggings, a teal coloured shirt that mimicked the typical wrapped garment fashion the ladies of Asgards would wear on their dresses and a black, flowing cloak to keep me warm in the darkening hours as the usual chill set into the air.

Finished with my worn, brown boots it’d look professional but casual enough so that should the job not be accepted the clothes wouldn’t be a hinderance if the evening turned into a fun one.

Quickly stripping down and getting changed, I wasted no time in grabbing my brown satchel and rushing out, snatching the letter from the dining table and stuffing it into my satchel as I left, calling into the hut; “I’ll see you later!”

The door banged behind me and seemed to echo as the street before me was deserted, everyone packed up and home for a warm night of food, family and comfort.

The tavern I was heading to was barely a twenty-minute walk from our small village and for that I was thankful as the crisp air of the night whipped at my legs.

For a moment, I wondered if tonight would be the night that I’d finally get lucky.

Meet someone to warm me up in bed, to keep my company and love me physically in a way no one had done before.

Ezabella had many admirers, which was no surprise considering that she was a gorgeous woman with dark hair that accentuated her complexion and eyes and a smile that could make a man swoon when he actually paid attention to her face rather than her bust.

She wasn’t shy about her body, unlike myself, and her personality was a lot more outgoing than mine was, this was why she had many more admirers than I did.

I didn’t dislike her for it, but there was no denying the bubble of jealousy that churned my stomach on occasions.

Perhaps tonight would be the night, drinks would flow and hormones would rise while shyness and inhibitions were forgotten for a few hours.

The thought made me grin and force the door open to the tavern a lot harder than I had intended to, not that anyone but myself but any mind to how hard the wooden block flew open in my hand.

Inside, although the night was young, there were still many revelers beginning their night of debauchery.

The last stragglers from family friendly meals had drifted out and gone home, making way for the crowds of rowdy and promiscuous men and women.

There was a home away from home feeling about the tavern’s wooden interior.

I had come here so often over the years to make business deals that whichever bartender was on that night would make sure to clear the table furthest in the corner for me without so much as an argument, tonight it appeared to be Arctic.

Arctic was a gentle giant, but still no one to be messed with.

Standing at a whopping 6’6, he would mess up anyone’s business who decided to make someone else’s night a misery, but until that happened he was as nice as pie and the friendliest man you could meet.

“Good evening, Arctic.”

He looked over from the horns that he was setting out, no doubt preparing for the warriors who enjoyed the tradition of drinking from the ornaments, and smiled, his grin breaking his brown bushy bear in two.

“Well look who it is, you here for business or pleasure?”

“Business,” I sighed, taking out the letter, “though I’ll pop by for a proper drink sometime in the week.”

“I’ll hold you to that, but I’m guessing you’re the one that lady wants to meet.”

“Which lady?” I asked, raising my eyebrow and scanning the room.

Arctic pointed across the room to the dead center, where a blonde woman sat with her hands neatly laced atop the table in front of her, a seemingly untouched goblet sitting beside her left hand.

I couldn’t say she was an extremely good-looking woman, but her cute features would earn her another look at least and her figure was thin, but the sash around her waist accentuated a bosom that could otherwise be looked over.

I glanced at Arctic, who gave me a wry smile and grabbed a tankard to fill up.

“Good luck,” he chuckled, setting the drink on the bar.


	3. The Proposition

“Come again?”

“You heard me.”

“I did, but I don’t believe I heard you correctly,” I set my tankard down on the murky table of the tavern and leaned forward, “you want me to-”

“Sleep with my husband, correct.”

The dowdy, yet not unattractive, woman across from me nodded and gave me a hard look to show that she was serious.

She had introduced herself as Avena, a name that somehow seemed familiar but I couldn't quite place from where.

She stood out among the rest of the patrons of this lovely establishment, her blue wrap dress befitting that of a maid yet still somehow seeming elegant and a curl of blonde hair hung out around her face from beneath a white headdress.

“He is ready for children and I am most definitely not the one to give them to him.”

“Wait, you want me to sleep with your husband and sire an heir with him?”

“That would be right.”

“That raises so many questions and goes beyond what I was expecting.”

“I have my reasons for seeking outer help.”

“That doesn’t deter from the fact that you asked me to meet you here, in this dingy old place, to essentially hire out my womb.”

Despite repeating the fact, I still couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing and had to pick up my drink to take another swig in order to distract my mind with something.

This woman had sought me personally, invited me out to my local slum just to ask me to sleep with her husband with the intention of having his child, alarm bells were ringing and set me on high alert.

But now I understood why she had wanted to meet in such a public place, especially somewhere like this.

Drawing a crowd would be the last thing we wanted to do, which also made this a smart move on her end, to put me in a position where I was comfortable but also couldn’t act out without pulling the wrong kind of attention towards us and putting us both in harm’s way.

“Why me?” I finally asked after a moment of silence.

“I hear that you are excellent at pulling through with your services and after much research you seem the most viable candidate.”

“Well I haven’t had complaints, but this is a little,” I paused and frowned a little to find the right word without being offensive, “desperate,” and I failed at it.

“Funny you’d mention desperate, I thought I’d heard that you would do anything for money.”

“Anything meaning fighting, looting or scavenging, not motherhood” I looked at her incredulously, “I’m an adventurer, not a brood mare.”

“It would set you up for life, you wouldn’t need to visit the child nor worry about their care once they have arrived, you get your money and we get a child.”

My eyebrow quirked as I stared at her, slowly looking her over as my mind clicked bits and pieces into place to fit this together into the most positive spin I could make.

“And you sought me out specifically?”

“I did,” Avena nodded with a smile, “let’s just say that your hips certainly stood out to me.”

My cheeks involuntarily flared up at the off-mark compliment and I found myself shifting in my seat, needing to move my hips as if to confirm that they were still there after their brief moment in the spotlight.

I couldn’t deny that I had been gifted with large hips, my parents had always joked that they were childbearing hips, but I never expected anyone to seek me out because of them.

“Nice to know it’s not just the men who like them,” I joked feebly, trying to push the embarrassment away.

“And have you lain with another?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Have you lain with anyone? Is your virginity intact?”

The burning in my face worsens and I looked away, licking my front teeth.

“Wonderful,” she smiled, “less of a concern for me.”

“Um, okay?” I chanced a look around the tavern, looking for anyone who seemed extra shady compared to the usual clientele so that I could keep my focus on them.

But the only one that stood out was the woman across from me.

“So you’re going to set me up for life and all I have to do is lie with your husband and have his child?”

“In essence, yes.”

“And you’re fine with it?”

“More than, it was my idea in the first place and I can turn a blind eye to the act if it’s for such a cause, we all may as well have fun with this.”

I looked her over again and couldn’t help but wonder what kind of fun she would be getting out of this, but the thought of having enough money for food and shelter for both me and my best friend for years to come won over any other logical thought.

“But that chance of it working the first time are very slim, surely multiple tries wouldn’t be in your ‘fun’ plan.”

“That isn’t a concern of mine either, for my husband is a user of magic and we could find a suitable fertility spell.”

I nodded slowly and took another drawn out sip from my tankard, thinking everything over.

It was insane and I wasn’t entirely sure how I would reveal all of this to Ezabella, but the thought of finally living a comfortable life wasn’t something that I’d be foolish enough to pass up.

The woman across from me waited in silence, her brown eyes never leaving me as she tentatively sipped from her own goblet. 

“Alright,” I grinned, lifting my glass as a salute, “I’m in.”

“Wonderful,” she smiled widely, clapping her hands in a way I’d only seen older women do when excited about something, “Loki will be so pleased.”

The cold liquid caught in my throat as my breath hitched and I sputtered on my drink, making me slam my glass down on the table whilst trying to control my coughing fit.

Prince Loki had a bad reputation around Asgard and the outer skirts that I lived in.

He was known for more than just his tricks and mischief.

His temper and short fuse were always talked about, the evil glint in his eye and the devilish smirk that he’d send towards people, the one that everyone who saw it took to be a sign of some ill to come, was forever ingrained into people’s tales.

Everyone had stories about interactions with the dark Prince and none were ever pleasant.

Loki was known to be cold, unsocial, arrogant and, to be blunt, an asshole.

“Are you okay?”

I looked up at her, clearing my throat continuously as the lingering feeling of left-over liquid remained inside and tickled my oesophagus.

“Oh yeah,” I croaked, “just fine.”

“Great,” she smiled, “I shall send a letter to your home in regard to the next step.”

“I look forward to it,” I nodded slowly, certain that my uncertainty was shining through in my tone.

“I’m sure you do,” she chuckled whilst rising from her seat and fastening a thick cloak around her neck. “Oh and one more than before I go, as you have now agreed to this our terms shall be set.”

“Understandable, you want to make sure your future child is getting best.”

“I’m glad you agree, first thing is first though, you will have to stop drinking before the night you bed him.”

I stared at her as my expression went blank, her own remaining warm but somehow seeming the faintest bit malicious.

Avena bid me a goodnight and sauntered out of the tavern, leaving me alone with what seemingly was going to be my last drink for a while to come.


	4. The Reveal

Ezabella stared at me like a mother waiting for their child to confess to their crimes of stealing a cookie from the jar, one of her hands placed pointedly on her jutted-out hip while the other had been slammed onto the table, fingers splayed open.

It was two nights after the meeting, just after we had shared an evening meal, that I had decided that it was time to tell her what the invitation had been about.

The afternoon of the day after she had returned from a small odd-job that she had left early in the morning to do and although I knew that she was brimming with excitement, I was still feeling the effects of the alcohol I had consumed the night before and didn’t want to converse or see the world beyond my bed.

She let me sleep and left again in the morning to trade in some jewellery she had earned at a previous job for a pouch of gold pieces, I was finally up, washed and ready to face the world by midday.

Respectfully, she kept her curiosity at bay as I focused on making our meal for that night, but once we had finished eating and sat in silence, she finally bit the bullet and asked what she had been dying to know.

Taking a deep gulp of water from my goblet, I swallowed harshly to try and cure my dry throat then took a deep breath and spilled all.

That was how we got to her standing before me, an unbroken look of anger mixed with disbelief aimed at me.

“Are you insane? How could you agree to that?”

“Well I didn’t agree straight away, I thought about it.”

“Most people would think about this kind of thing for days, weeks even, not five minutes.”

“I thought about it long and hard, but think about it,” I leaned forward, resting my arms on the top of the table, “this could set us up for life, I’m giving a child to a Prince of Asgard.”

“And possibly tearing yourself apart in the process,” she frowned, standing up straight as if to keep distance between us and folding her arms, “it’s more common for mothers to get attach to their child while they’re in the womb.”

“I am aware.”

“And yet you’re willing to risk that happening only for the baby to be torn away from you?”

“If it gives us a better life? Yes.”

She paused to stare at me before shaking her head, letting out a long and suffering loaded sigh.

“There’s not even a guarantee that you can get pregnant, you know the problems you’ve had in the past with simple bleeding.”

“I know,” I frowned having to look away from her, “I brought up that I wasn’t likely to get pregnant on a first try.”

“Okay, and?”

“And Avena said that they would use magic to make it a guarantee.”

Ezabella shook her head whilst worrying her bottom lip, her eyes full on concern once again.

“I just don’t think it’s right, this will be a life changing toll on your body, maybe both physically and mentally.”

“I know,” I repeated, running a hand through my hair, “but I feel like it’s worth it, you know? This could be great for us.”

“It could be, but you shouldn’t do something like this for us, we’re getting by just fine.”

“Are we? Ez, I love you dearly but we’re really fighting to get by right now and not to mention that winter festivities are coming upon us fast and we know that in a few weeks jobs will become scarce as the cold sets in.”

“That may be, but it takes almost ten months in total to grow a child, that doesn’t help us now, does it?”

“No, but I got the impression that she wants this to happen sooner rather than later so I’m counting on her to contact me soon to get this ball rolling and for the perks to come into play.”

“We can’t rely on that though.”

“And we’re not, as far as I’m concerned, until it’s over and I know Loki’s child is in me, we are living under normal circumstances.”

Ezabella sighed again and continued to stare me down with a look of concern, only this one seemed lighter than the previous.

“If you’re sure, I just worry about you.”

“I get that,” I smiled softly, “and I appreciate it, but I’m doing this for us.”

“I understand, but I wish you wouldn’t.”

It was my turn to sigh as I stood from my seat and rounded the table, pulling her into a tight hug.

We stood like that in silence, arms wrapped around each other and she rested her head on my shoulder, the longer we stood the more I found myself swaying on the spot to music only playing in my head.

“You should get some rest,” I hummed, gently rubbing her back.

“I should,” Ezabella sighed, pulling away.

“You go to bed, I’ll take care of everything in here.”

She nodded slowly and big me a goodnight before heading to her small room and leaving me alone in the kitchen with that night’s dinner plates and pans.

With a long breath, I set about scraping the leftovers into the pot we’d store them in until it was full and ready to transfer to the compost mound at the end of our small garden, then I rinsed off any remnants of the sauce and filled the pans and the large black cauldron with warm water to soak.

While they soaked, I dunked my hands into the warmed water and started to scrub at the crockery, my mind wandering as I worked.

I knew Loki had a reputation, but there was no denying that he was a handsome man and it would almost be an honour to say that my first time was taken by a Prince, the one deemed ‘The Dark Prince’ no less.

And it had to be for more than his known trickery and mischievous deeds that gave him that name.

With his piercing eyes that were a mixture of blue and green, each colour varying from portrait to portrait that I had seen of him, brought out by his pale skin and his black hair.

He was tall, lean and foreboding in ways that were alarmingly alluring the more I thought about it.

It wasn’t anything I’d admit to Ezabella, but I looked forward to sharing his bed.

Whether it be for a few minutes or a couple of hours, I looked forward to seeing Loki in his most primal state.

I knew it wasn’t something that I should have thought about, but I was a simple woman with simple needs and there was no way I could deny the heat that rose within me when I had time to daydream and imagine what the sex would be like.

Little did I know as I stood over the sink, wrist deep in water and scrubbing at dirtied pans, that by the third day I would have my summons date.


	5. The Arrival

Ezabella saw me off the morning of my summons, her face giving away her feelings about what I was about to go through with.

We had tried not to pay much mind to it after our discussion, but it was always the elephant in the room that became increasingly more difficult to tiptoe around the closer the date came.

When I stepped out of our small home, I was greeted with the biggest carriage I had ever seen.

The outer design was white and trimmed with intricate gold patterns that swirled and curved around each other, held up by four wheels that somehow looked both brown and gold at the same time.

Four pure white horses were at the front, being held by deep red reigns and I immediately felt my spine prickle with discomfort.

This kind of welcome wagon was far too elegant for the likes of me.

The escorts hardly said a word to me and instead ushered me into the carriage like there was no time to wait, Ezabella had barely managed to throw my bag in behind me before the door was slammed shut, secured and the carriage lurched harshly as the horses started trotting back towards the palace.

How quickly Ezabella disappeared from view caused my heart to give a painful squeeze and the comfort of home disappeared just as quickly.

I started to berate myself for agreeing to put myself in this situation.

Ezabella was right, I had put a price on my virginity and body for a stranger of high status, it was foolish but it was also too late to back out.

This was for the best, it would finally get us something better in life.

The trip to Asgard’s palace didn’t take as long as I believed, maybe even hoped, that it would.

It felt like I had only been staring at the beautiful expansive horizons for a few minutes before we entered the gates carted around the palace walls to a rear entrance.

Just as quickly as I was shoved into the carriage, I was pulled out and tugged inside as people in servant’s clothing rushed around me, talking amongst themselves so quickly that I could barely make out what anyone was saying.

I was pulled by my arms this way and that through a maze of narrow corridors, that I would hazard a guess were used by the workers of the palace to go from point A to point B without disturbing the people of a higher position.

This was not at all how I had envisioned my first introduction to the landmark of our realm.

Not to say that I had expected warm smiles and welcoming hugs of congratulation for what I was about to do, but I had anticipated at least being eased into what was going to happen.

This was ten times more stressful than I had thought it would be.

Before I knew it, I was pushed into a room, my bag was unceremoniously dropped by my right foot and the door I had just been forced through was slammed shut.

Sat before me on a bed, one of only three bits of furniture within the room, was Avena.

She tilted her head as she regarded me in silence, which was more than a little awkward, until she smiled and slowly rose from her position.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t keep me waiting long,” she commented, making her way towards me.

“Long? I feel like everything that just happened barely took five minutes.”

“Yes well, I told them to be hasty about it.”

“Hasty maybe, but I like my arms in their sockets, thank you.”

I couldn’t tell from where I stood if she genuinely rolled her eyes or if it was just a trick of the light, but either way she didn’t seem too pleased with my response.

“When you’re done answering back, we need to get you made over.”

“Excuse me?” I asked, raising my eyebrow.

“We have a few hours and we’ll need to sort out,” she paused and looked me over, using a pointer finger to indicate my general being, “this.”

I looked down at myself, feeling more than offended at her shift in attitude.

“If this needs fixing, why hire me and not someone else?”

“You had a reputation for completing jobs efficiently and your looks can be altered in various ways,” she shrugged uncaringly.

“Great.”

“It is,” she continued, either not noticing or ignore my sarcasm, “come, let us get you washed and then we can work our magic on you.”

Once again, I found my wrist in a tight grip and that I was being pulled towards a door on the opposite side of the room that I had entered in.

Behind this door was a bathroom that appeared to be larger than the bedroom itself and stood in the room were four other servants, all waiting to get started on me.


	6. Loki

My guts were twisting uncomfortably as I sat on the silky green sheets of the bed.

I’d been led into the room and left alone without another word.

My face felt sticky from the make-up they had coated it in, the feeling was unpleasant and I had to resist the urge to wipe it all off.

I never cared for make-up as it always felt unnecessary and time consuming unless it was for a job, it wasn’t anything I cared about if others did choose to wear it, but it really wasn’t my kind of thing and to be forced into wearing it was making me uncomfortable.

Never before had I had to wear the amount that they’d caked on me, it was to the point where I barely recognized my own reflection.

My leg bounced as my nerves set in, making the heel of the strap sandal they’d forced me into click on the floor.

Time seemed to drag on and this made everything worse.

The too short, green silk Asgardian robe they had put me in wasn’t doing much at keeping me warm in this strangely chilled room and my chest felt gooey from the salve they had put on it.

“Something just to give you a little more to play with,” she had said, quite rudely in my opinion.

I wasn’t particularly flat chested to begin with, sure it was nothing to write home about to, my gift was in my hips, but there was no need for them to magic up my bust size when all they needed was my womb.

Which was now highly pregnable thanks to the fruity flavoured fertility potion they have given me.

Come to think of it, the potion may have also been adding to my bounciness and fluttering stomach, as barely minutes after taking it I felt the all too familiar need to be touched, caressed and brought to a high.

I was ready to go and the Prince wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

The black sash around my waist was synched so tight that I wasn’t entirely sure I’d be able to breath in ten minutes time.

“It’ll bring out those lovely curves of yours.”

Avena’s voice kept echoing these ridiculous statements in my mind and I was beginning to grow tired of it.

Over the years, I had heard many things about Prince Loki, too rarely was it ever anything nice, but there was something disappointing about knowing that he was shallow.

In hindsight it wasn’t a surprise, both him and his brother, Thor, were in the position to be shallow, but it was still disappointing to have suspicions confirmed.

Letting out a long sigh, I stood up from the bed and paced the room with hands on my hips and slow steps as heels, especially at the height of the ones I was wearing, were not part of my everyday attire and thus proved kind of difficult to walk in.

More agonizing minutes passed and I was beginning to lose my cool, the potion they had given me was driving me up the wall and the friction of my thighs rubbing together as I walked only made the sensations worse.

Patience was wearing thin and nerves were starting to win over need of money.

My heart jumped into my throat as the door opened behind me and the sound of boots scuffing along the floor filled the silence, followed promptly by the door clicking shut and a thoughtful hum.

“My, what a surprise we have here.”

I pivoted around to face him, trying to save face as I stumbled a little in the heels.

“My Prince,” I bowed, though I suddenly became away of how low the robe crossed at the front as my enhanced chest nearly spilled out.

Standing up straight, I held the fabric closed and gave him a wary smile, now fretting that there was lipstick covering my lips.

Loki’s eyes roamed over me and he looked completely disinterested.

Up close I had to admit, he was a very handsome man, better looking in person than any of the portraits I had seen of him over the years.

His skin was pale, but not sickly like they tended to depict, if anything I would say it was more like carved marble that was accentuated in the best possible way by his long, dark hair.

Unlike the typical beady and rat-like eyes artists drew him with, he regarded me with eyes that were admittedly full of mischief but were otherwise a gorgeously strange mixture of blue and green.

It was no surprise that he was built like a God too, not muscle bound like Thor but still tall, lithe and fit.

All in all, his entire presence was overbearing and intimidating and I wanted him like I’d never lusted after someone before.

“And who might you be?” He asked, a thin eyebrow slowly rising.

“I was hired by your wife to-”

“Oh, I see, you’re the surprise she’s been giddy about as of late.”

“I would guess so.”

“Of course, she can’t even stomach to touch me on my own birthday and resorted to such desperate attempts.”

I shifted awkwardly, letting out a faint laugh of nervousness.

“Well, I more got the impression that she didn’t want to bare your child.”

Loki’s eyes widened and his eyebrow rose in surprise, the shock going completely unhidden on his face until he recovered.

“A child?”

“Yes, my prince,” I bowed again, “I am here to sire you and your wife an heir.”

He didn’t take long to recover from his shock, instead he shifted to almost disgust as he rolled his eyes and sneered.

“Naturally, she did say that she would give me a gift unlike any other I’ve had before, I didn’t think it would be the half-child of a harlot because she couldn’t stomach carrying my genes.”

“Um, I’m still not sure if that’s the reason behind it,” I mumbled, my awkwardness growing, “and I’m no harlot, I’ve never done this before.”

“You’re a virgin?”

There was a disturbing aura of a predatory nature behind his smirk and it sent shivers running down my spine, or that could have been how much colder the room had gotten since he’d stepped in.

“I am, my prince.”

“Please,” he scoffed and waved his hand, “call me Loki, if we’re going to get carnal then I don’t want it to be formal.”

“So we are seriously going through with it?”

“We are,” he chuckled, “though I’m surprised Avena would set this up, she is prone to jealousy.”

“Is that so?” I paused, chewing on my lip and getting a mouthful of the taste of lipstick, “then perhaps we can work around this? Sweeten the deal and we can call it off.”

Loki stared at me before laughing, shaking his head as if I had just said that most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.

“You must be jesting, this is a chance to get under her skin and I would never pass that up.”

He stepped closer, the thudding of his boots against the floor sounded foreboding and added this terrible finality into the situation.

“Now,” he smirked, cupping my chin between his cold fingers once he was close enough to loom over me, “shall we get started?”


	7. Aftermath

The throbbing between my legs was unlike anything I had experienced before.

Needless to say, Loki was significantly bigger than anything I had ever used to experiment by myself, a fact I’m sure would give him a boost of confidence.

Not that he needed it.

The man was practically made of ego and pride.

There were marks that ached covering me, he hadn’t been gentle and seemed to relish in biting, bruising and scratching.

It had taken me by surprise just how rough he was.

I had guessed that he was letting out frustrations that had clearly built up over the course of his marriage, his rough and domineering attitude being an outlet for his discontent but also the release of need that stirred over the time of him not being allowed to touch her.

The night dragged on until early morning before Loki had decided that he had had enough, the amount of times he had managed to finish inside of me was unlike anything I had heard of happening before.

I’d been contorted into positions I didn’t even know existed and I found myself, at times, cramping up and wishing that I had been given some kind of elixir to loosen my muscles.

Something told me that Avena was aware that this sort of thing would occur and leaving me to suffer in unnatural positions was a way of showing me my place, despite her being the one who had hired me in the first place.

‘What a screwed-up family this child will be introduced to,’ I thought to myself, looking down at Loki who was peacefully slumbering beside me.

He looked gentler when he was asleep, kinder and less like the world was on his shoulders.

Before he had been handsome in a rugged kind of way, now he was beautiful and I could see what people meant by him being a devastating beauty.

It was bad to think, but I kind of hated him for it despite the fact that as he slept I found myself stroking his hair, unable to keep my hands off of him.

Loki had been asleep for just under an hour before the door open and Avena stepped in, her nose instantly wrinkling as she closed the door, no doubt that the smell of sex was strong in the air considering how long Loki had been going on for.

It wasn’t a smell that was familiar to me but it wasn’t exactly something which bothered me, it had concerned me a little to begin with as, although I’d heard there was such a thing, I hadn’t been expecting it to be as strong as it was but the contortion of her face made it evident that she was put off by it instantly.

“I’m presuming you had fun,” she stated bluntly, her hands crossed at her thin wrists and clasping onto the opposite arm as she made her way towards the bed, her heels clicking too loudly as she walked.

“I hurt all over,” I whispered, glancing down at Loki to make sure he wasn’t stirring.

“I can imagine that would be the case, but your service is done, you may leave now.”

“Go home?”

“No,” Avena looked at me as if I was talking dirt that only had stupid things to say, “to your guest room, you are to stay with us, a test shall be run shortly after each session and you leave when we have confirmation that a child will be given to us.”

I raised my eyebrow and opened to mouth to reply before sighing, clamping my lips shut again.

Considering that I was nude and vulnerable in her husband’s bed, I didn’t particularly wish to start an argument over the flaw of her logic.

Did she really think that they could tell mere hours, maybe days, after intercourse?

If that’s what she thought then it gave me the idea as to why she didn’t want to carry the child, she had no idea what to actually expect.

“So I’m going to be stuck here for a while then?”

“As long as it takes to get a positive result back, the healers shall let us know immediately and we will take it from there.”

“Wonderful,” I nodded, putting on a pleasant smile, “that could only take a couple of weeks, I’ll let you know if I miss my period or anything.”

Avena narrowed her eyes a little, but didn’t respond further to my passive aggressiveness, good on her really.

“You may leave now.”

“Okay,” I conceded, glancing down at myself then back at her, “but would you mind turning away?”

“Why?”

“Because I’m naked and I don’t wish for you to see me naked.”

“You shall be baring my child and my husband has taken you, I think this is the least intimate thing that could happen in our current situation.”

Avena’s expression was one that I could only describe as dark pleasure, the way her painted lips pulled to one side and her plucked eyebrows scowled made her look almost evil.

She didn’t move, just stood there, waiting for me the throw the covers back and slide out of the bed from beneath her husband’s arm, which was resting across my lap.

The silent staring showdown wasn’t getting us anywhere quickly and I let out a loaded sigh.

Throwing the covers away, I was greeted by an unpleasant chill that caused goosebumps to rise and my nipples to harden, this new cold was so strong that they started to tingle unpleasantly and I was more than eager than before to jump out of the bed and grab my clothes, seeing as I’d already caved in to her hardened stare and couldn’t just climb back under the covers.

Avena watched me like a hawk as I slipped out from beneath Loki’s arm and stood on still numb legs, the feeling being surreal and uncomfortable, but not as bad as the tension that was seeping off the woman before me.

Her eyes roamed over my elixir improved body and her face twisted into a sneer.

To think she had been so nice whilst making the deal with me.

I’d barely managed to step past her before she swept up my clothes off the floor, shoved them into my arms and forcefully pushed me out of the room with hard blows to my back.

The door slammed behind me before I’d had a chance to take a step forward and the wood knocked against my bare ass, causing me to flinch forward.

Looking over my shoulder at the secured door in bewilderment, standing naked in the corridor with my clothes bundled against my chest, I couldn’t believe the situation I had gotten myself in to.

Awkwardly, I shifted back into the discarded and partially torn clothes, which caused the marks Loki had given me to flare up in pain, and stumbled my way down the corridor, hoping to find the room I’d been assigned without having to stop and ask for the sake of my own dignity.


	8. Life in the Palace

The week passed by in an odd time frame, one day seemed to fly by without my noticing and the next would crawl by at an agonizing pace, by the time a full week had passed I’d put up with two more sessions with the sex-deprived Prince.

When I wasn’t being primped, magically enhanced and bunked up with Loki, I could wander the palace ground under the pretense of being a friend of Avena’s who had come to see how she was getting on in her new life.

Seeing the sights inside the palace walls was an experience that I was never going to forget, I had heard over the years that it was a magical sight to see and the rumours were true, the colours and intricately designed architecture was unlike anything I would ever see again.

Many of the people I encountered were pleasant.

They offered polite smiles and gentle nods of the head, offering a greeting of pleasantries and casual conversation starters that typically didn’t last beyond a few sentences, but were lovely to have all the same.

At times, the conversations turned awkward when they asked for my business in the palace and I replied with the excuse that I had been supplied with, sometimes people would simply play it off and swiftly change the subject, at others their face visibly dropped and seemed to twitch with a hint of displeasure.

Thankfully, it never seemed to be aimed at me and they continued to hold a friendly conversation, but it did make things a little awkward.

Naturally, I had come across some who didn’t like my being there.

Fortunately, they were few and far between considering the amount of people within the palace and most seemed to accept my visitation.

I didn’t wish to be associated negatively with someone who people seemed to hold very silent disregard for, but I supposed that it was too late for that now, I had made my agreement and had started to act upon it.

There was no backing out now.

Unless I wasn’t pregnant, then maybe I could tell her that I wanted out, that I no longer wanted any part in her strange relationship and that perhaps they didn’t deserve a child.

Rightfully so, in my own mind, seeing the two in the privacy of their own home made me realize just how false their public image was and that bringing a child into this kind of family, where the ones raising them had questionable love for one another, perhaps wasn’t the best idea.

But I’d already sealed the agreement and now it felt like too little, too late and my name would forever be associated with a woman apparently not very well liked by the people around her. 

It also wasn’t my place to tell them that they couldn’t have a child, not when I had already started on my side of the deal.

I wholly doubted that Avena would allow me to put my hands up and step out, not after I had slept with her husband, whether it was her idea or not.

Something told me that she would use that fact against me and I never planned on finding out how, instead I would stick around and become overly friendly with the infirmary staff.

“Another clear visit, ma’am,” the nurse smiled at me.

I had learned early on that her name was Elyza, she was light haired, friendly and had a very pretty smile.

“Wonderful,” I sighed happily, sliding to the edge of the bed and swinging my legs.

Though I hated to admit it, my stomach did twist as the fact that I still hadn’t been given a positive result, even if I knew that it would probably be far too early just yet.

Every time the result came back negative, my heart jolted knowing that I would have to go through another session with a sexually deprived Prince who was a more than rough lover.

Too early or not, I wanted that positive so that Avena would pay me and I could leave for nine to ten months.

“May I ask you something?” Elyza asked, closing down all the fancy gizmos she had been using to check me over and pulling me out of my musings.

“Go right ahead,” I replied, trying to ignore the spiking in my heartbeat.

“This is the third check up you’ve had in barely a week, what are you so concerned about?”

I looked at her, feeling my throat tighten as she looked at me with eyes that appeared to shine too brightly with an innocence I had lost years ago, despite never losing my virginity until just a few days ago.

“I just like to make sure that I am in my best shape,” I said, not entirely convincing myself.

Elyza nodded slowly, her face twisting uncertainly.

“I don’t mean to be rude but, are you certain? The tests you’ve been coming for have been quite…” Her eyes glanced to the side and she nibbled at her lip, “Quite intimate, I guess I’d say.”

“Ah.”

“Not that I’m judging you,” she hurriedly added, “it’s just that three visits within a week seems a bit much.”

I let out a loaded breath and nodded in agreement, resting my hands in my lap with clasped fingers.

“I suppose it is, I just like to keep on top of things.”

“Understandably, the wounds you are left with can be quite harsh looking sometimes.”

At the mention of my scrapes and bruises, my skin began to tingle and I stole a glance at my wrist, which had been lightly bruised my Loki’s too firm grip during our second session together.

“He’s just very passionate,” I offered weakly, a nervous laugh escaping just after it.

Elyza eyed me uncertainly but said nothing further, merely finishing our check up with a polite farewell and dismissal.

Stepping into the corridor, I adjusted the mint green wrap dress that I had been given and headed off, choosing to let my feet take me where they wished to on my ever-continuous ventures around the palace.


	9. A Meal with the Family

Another two weeks passed in sessions, snide looks and Avena showing me off to prove that she was superior to me to anyone and everyone that would listen, which was grating but something I had decided that I had to put up with.

Her personality was a difficult one to decipher, she wasn’t an entire bitch, but she wasn’t exactly one to be sympathetic for either.

Avena had nice moments, which would make anyone second guess their original judgement of her but then she would turn around and do something that threw all that good will out of the window.

The woman was worse than a yo-yo.

It didn’t help that the people around the palace were beginning to question my lengthy stay, it seemed as though their generosity was beginning to thin and I had overstayed my welcome.

In full truth, I was starting to get ready to leave myself.

The longer I stayed and the more session I had to attend, I felt as though Avena was beginning to resent me in some strange way.

Her previously disinterested looks shifted into ones that I could only assume were scolding and judgmental, her nose turned up and head held high as if I didn’t already know her status above me.

It was confusing, she had contracted me to do this and now she was beginning to dislike me for doing my job?

“She better not refuse to pay me,” I’d muttered to myself a few times over the days when I had finally found myself alone.

Avena’s distaste towards me only made it more surprising that she continued to let me sit at the head table during meals, even if my seat was situated at the very end with a decent sized gap between us.

Not that I minded, it meant I didn’t have to join in most conversations.

Occasionally, Frigga would call down to me in a friendly tone to ask me a question or two, but due to the distance it seemed that Avena purposefully set up those conversations were very brief.

I had come to adore Frigga during my time within her home.

She was the kind of woman I could only dream of becoming, so welcoming and kind yet obviously powerful and holding herself with confidence.

It appeared as though Loki also adored his mother, if the fond smiles he would give her were anything to count on and that endeared me to him a little.

Considering her compassionate nature, it only seemed fitting that Frigga was the first one to act when it was evident that something was off with me by the end of my fifth week of this obscure job.

We had just sat down in our usual spots, servants wandered up and down tables to serve food and beverages and chatter was filling the hall as the warriors talked about their training and fierce battles.

The food that was set down in front of me looked exquisite as always, the luxurious meats and sides mixing together into a smell that was as pleasant as you’d expect of food being fed to royals and yet the familiar scents and sights made my stomach roil.

It wasn’t the first time that I had felt a little nauseous, but typically it faded fast so it became easy to ignore as long as I wasn’t on my knees worshipping a porcelain God.

Moments like this made me thankful for my position at the furthest end of the table, this small bit of eluded isolation without being dragged into the royal families’ conversations was exactly what I needed.

I didn’t want to draw attention to myself, so I ate small bits and prodded others around, feeling my stomach churn a little more each time something hit my tongue.

The wooziness increased and I could feel my stomach bubbling, my mouth started to fill with saliva which was typically a tell-tale sign for me that something was desperate to come up but after plenty of practice from travel sickness in rocking carriages, I managed to keep it at bay.

Taking a quick glance to my side, I say a silent prayer that Loki was deep into telling a story, which Thor kept interrupting with his own additions, that had enraptured the others at the table.

Surprisingly even Odin, who didn’t smile or even twitch to show emotion but it was evident that he was listening.

I closed my eyes and took some deep breaths, swallowing back what was in my mouth to try and control the need to be sick until it finally passed and I could feel myself settling again, just a little bit.

My hands rested on either side of the plate, the cutlery held tightly in both as I waited for this wave to pass.

Once it did and I knew for certain that I was safe, I dropped the knife and fork and grabbed my drink, downing it in hopes that it’d push back that horrible feeling of bile in the back of my throat.

In my moment of haste, I hadn’t noticed that the table had fallen silent and eyes were on me.

Odin looked less than impressed at this nobody interrupting his family time, Thor and Frigga looked concerned while Loki and Avena merely stared, though Loki looked a little bit more uncertain than Avena’s disinterested look.

Frigga’s chair scraped against the floor as she got up and moved to stand beside me and laid a hand on my shoulder as she looked down, her eyebrows knitted together with concern.

“Are you alright? You’re looking awfully pale.”

“Honestly? I’m not feeling too good this evening, All-Mother,” I replied, my voice weaker than I would care to admit.

“You do seem to be rather gaunt, come, we should get you to the healers.”

Frigga’s hand moved from my shoulder to the top of my arm in a firm but not harsh grip, gently nudging me to follow her movements without resistance.

Truth be told, I was thankful that she took action and was leading me out.

As childish of a thought as it was, I was glad that she had noticed and was seeing to me, it reminded me of my own mother and when my parents would dote on me when I wasn’t well, something that I deeply missed.

That, and it drew less attention to be leaving with her than it would have if I were to get up and rush out.

We walked out under the silent stares of her family and the surrounding members within their kingdom, though the noise sparked up again as soon as the doors closed behind us.

Frigga led me, still in silence, to the healers and I didn’t wish to spark up conversation.

I was too busy focusing on the knot that was tying up my stomach at the prospect of what was happening, although I had wanted to deny it and should have been elated that it had finally happened, I was nervous and scared to get the result that Loki and especially Avena wanted.

Loki, probably because he was looking forward to being a father more than he would ever admit and Avena so that I could leave her presence and she could continue ignoring her husband until their heir was born.

Either way, I was excitedly dreading the thought that I was now pregnant.


	10. Positive

My stomach flipped horribly as I lay in bed, underneath the too warm covers my body was as straight and stiff as a board as I stared at the ceiling with a hand placed on my stomach.

This was actually happening.

I was carrying Loki's child, I had been for just over three weeks according to the healer's estimation.

Meaning that the first session with the enhancing magic was more than enough to work and the other sessions, although very fun and worth the experience, were unneeded.

But I was getting paid heftily for carrying the child of an Asgardian prince.

It almost felt surreal, even though I had signed up for it and knew what I was getting myself into, it still felt strange to be carrying the heir to royalty inside of me.

The shock didn’t seem to want to pass and I found myself led on the healer’s bed for longer than necessary, just staring at the ceiling as the information refused to sink in completely.

Frigga eventually helped me off the bed and to my temporary room, her eyes full of both concern and congratulations, a look that could only be succeeded by a woman of her compassion.

I loved Frigga, I didn’t like having to lie to her about what was going on but Avena made it abundantly clear that this was to remain between the three of us, despite the questions that would surely arise should she be seen caring for a baby after showing no signs of pregnancy.

Avena was the first one to come to my room after Frigga left, the All-Mother had taken more time out of her day to make sure that I was comfy and as okay as I could be before taking her leaving.

The experience left me feeling a little buzzed and giddy, a sensation that fluttered away as soon as Avena strutted into the room without knocking.

“So, it’s finally time it seems,” she said, not even greeting me like a civilized being.

“It appears so,” I mumbled back, still feeling too numb to give her any more.

“Great, so you can leave now until I summon you.”

“Pardon?”

I looked at her with a quirked eyebrow as she strode up to my bed and sat down on the edge, once again not even asking for permission.

“What? You thought that you could stay here?”

“No, of course not,” I shook my head and sighed, “I’m just surprised that you’re essentially kicking me out already, we’ve only just got confirmation.”

“I know, but it’s best that you leave sooner rather than later.”

“Right,” I drawled, having to surprise my eyeroll, “it seems you have this all planned out.”

“Naturally, I’d be stupid to get into this without a plan of some kind.”

Her tone was too haughty for my liking and I had to bite back a snide reply about her brain power, this woman was paying my way for life for this, I couldn’t risk messing it up now even if I did have a huge leverage over her head.

That thought made me feel a little better.

“Alright, so what’s the plan?”

“Nosy, aren’t we?”

“I’m part of this, aren’t I? I think I have a right to know what exactly is going to be done so that I can be prepared.”

Avena made a strange humming sound in the back of her throat and barely shrugged her shoulders, proving just how much she cared about my position within the situation.

“I guess you have a point,” she conceded, though she didn’t look all too impressed with having to. 

There was a brief pause in conversation as she pursed her painted lips and pulled them to one side, clearly thinking it all over.

“Fine,” Avena shifted a little on my bed, twisting to face me better as if that would somehow enhance the points that she was about to raise. “So, the plan is rather simple, you go home and come back every now and then for ‘catch up’ time,” she moved her fingers in air quotes as if I couldn’t pick up the hint in the change within her voice.

“Mhmm,” I hummed dully, indicating for her to continue with a look that I hoped put my thoughts across.

“As far as anyone else is concerned, you’re just a friend coming by to see me as we share the excitement of pregnancy together.”

“Right and how do you plan on explaining all that?”

“Explaining what?”

“How can we “share the excitement of pregnancy” if you aren’t pregnant.”

“Oh honey, you’re so simple,” she laughed and reached over, patting my knee which was hidden beneath the bed covers, “I’ll cast an illusion.”

“One that’ll hold for nine months, give or take?”

“Only when in the public eye, when it’s just me and my Lokes then it won’t matter, will it?”

I wrinkled my nose and had to look away as a grimace tried to force its way onto my face at the nickname, my mind internally cringing.

“Well, I’m sure you and your ‘Lokes’ will be more than capable of keeping up the lie, but what story have you concocted for me?”

“It’s simple, you got into a little fling with a worker here and fell pregnant, nothing extravagant, thing you can remember that?”

“I’ll try to.”

I had to grit my teeth to refrain from letting the sarcasm drip in my tone as annoyance boiled uncomfortably in my stomach, my fingers gripped at the material beneath them to let out some tension.

“Now,” I said after a moment’s breath, “what about payment?”

“Oh yes, payments shall be made in parts over the coming months after every checkup.”

“Ah,” I nodded, “to make sure that things are going well and worth paying for I assume.”

“You assumed correctly,” she smiled as if proud that I had picked up what she was saying so quickly. “So now you’re welcome to stay for a while longer, maybe a day or two to let Loki talk to you about his wants and then you can go until you receive my letters for further instruction.”

Avena patted higher up my leg and stood up, glancing me over with a plastered-on smile before leaving, letting the door shut needlessly loudly behind her.

I let out a long breath and dropped my head back against the headboard of the bed, my hand absently trailing to my stomach as I closed my eyes.

“Kid, you’re in for a rough ride.”


	11. The Return Home

Ezabella welcomed me with open arms when I arrived on our doorstep, literally being dropped off without being spared a glance.

They had quite literally thrown my bag out, opened the door to let me get out a little more carefully before shutting the doors once again and riding off back to the palace.

I was a little dazed and the hastiness of their departure, but no less relieved to get out of that rickety carriage that only resulted in churning my already sensitive stomach.

Looking at our little hut was strange after spending so long within the palace walls.

With its one story, the brown walls that were overgrown with green plants so badly that you could barely see out of the windows and the rickety looking frames that hardly held the windows in place, it was a strange sight to see after I had been surrounded by the purest whites and the shiniest of golds.

It was a welcome change, I truly felt at home.

I’d barely managed to pick up my bag before Ezabella threw open the door and raced out of the hug, tackling me in a tight, bone crushing hug that seemed to last for eternity.

“It’s so good to have you home,” she gasped into my neck, causing me to shudder.

“It’s so good to be home,” I smiled, hugging her back.

“I missed you so much,” she said, tightening her hug.

I groaned and had to wriggle a little in her arms, laughing while rubbing her back.

“Eza, please, it’s too tight.”

“Oh,” she gasped, pulling away, “sorry, I forget my own strength.”

“It’s not that,” I waved her off with my hand, “it’s more that I’m kind of sensitive in the uh…chest area.”

Ezabella cocked her head to the side and frowned as if to decipher what I’d meant, her eyes briefly flickered over me before the lights sparked on and her eyes widened.

“Of course, you’re pregnant right now,” she stared at my stomach as if she was going to see it expand before her very eyes, “you have Loki’s child in you.”

“Yes,” I nodded, “I am.”

“You’re going to get so big and round.”

“Yes, Ezabella, I’ll be doing that too.”

“And your breasts will be sensitive and you’ll lac-”

“Yes, thank you Eza, can we please go inside now?”

She gave me a cheeky grin and grabbed my bag, practically skipping back inside.

I shook my head and glanced down, poking around my nipples gently and wincing a little at the faint sting that rose at the contact, my mind’s eye imagining me growing a few cups and ruining shirts in under a year if I wasn’t careful.

Shaking myself back to reality, I headed inside and closed the door behind myself, basking in that familiar but now strange homely atmosphere that I had come to miss in the palace.

Ezabella stepped back into the small hall with a wide smile, with my bag nowhere to be seen I could guess that she had put it into my bedroom, I wouldn’t be surprised if she went so far as to unpack it for me too.

“So,” she started, elongating the word as the air suddenly turned awkward, “how it is?”

I quirked up an eyebrow and tilted my head.

“’It’ as in what? Living in the palace? Being pregnant? Sex with a Prince?”

“Maybe all of them? You know my curiosity.”

I laughed and with a shake of my head walked to the kitchen to prepare some much needed tea, Ezabella eagerly bouncing along behind me before plopping herself onto one of our worn seats.

“What is there to say?” I started with a shrug, “the palace is absolutely beautiful and most people were lovely, especially Frigga.”

“What was Prince Thor like?”

“I didn’t talk to him much but he seemed nice, a bit boisterous and seems to act before he thinks, but he was a nice guy.”

“Okay,” she leaned forward and rested her arms on the table, “and Prince Loki?”

“Beyond the sex we barely spoke, honestly, Avena seemed to like keeping us apart unless it was for that.”

“And how was ‘that’? Was it worth your first time?”

I paused for a moment, staring at the boiling kettle atop the stove as I thought about the experience.

The different positions, the change in his roughness depending on his mood and how his touches made me feel, the unusual contact from another person that elicited sensations I could never stir up on myself, much akin to trying to tickle yourself.

“It was nice,” I said finally, “he was definitely skilled.”

Ezabella gave a barked laugh which was accompanied by an uncharacteristic smirk.

“That’s no surprise, he’s had a lot of practice.”

“Not if Avena’s attitude is anything to go by.”

“Oh, I mean long before he was married.”

I gave a confused glance then turned back to the boiled water, carefully picking the hot kettle from the stove top and pouring the steaming liquid into two cups.

Setting the kettle back down onto one of the unheated stove rings, I turned my attention back to Ezabella to give the tea time to brew, leaning against the counter I folded my arms and chewed on my lip in contemplation.

“I’m not so sure those rumours are true,” I started hesitantly, “to be honest I doubt marriage would have stopped him seeking out another if he was truly that desperate and used to getting it, in fact I think he barely left his own company most of the time.”

“Maybe he had a fling in the library?”

“I doubt it, but who knows? If so then why would Avena go this far to get a child? Just use his mistresses’.”

“Royals are strange, dear, only they know why they act.”

“Perhaps, but I still doubt Loki acts as debaucherously bedroom wise as people always say.”

Ezabella shrugged and I continued making the drinks, scooping some sugar into the cups and pouring in some milk to stir in.

“And what about the other question?”

“Which one is that?” I asked over my shoulder.

“What’s it like knowing that you’re carrying his child?”

My eyes glanced to the side, though I couldn’t see her due to the table she sat at being behind me.

I could feel my hand almost tingle and move subconsciously to my stomach, a strange feeling bubbled up about how strange it was to know that under my palm, under the skin of my stomach which seemed plumper purely because of the luxurious food I had gotten to indulge in, that I was growing another little being who would eventually make themselves known by distorting my body to fit them.

My fingers twitched a little and I failed to notice that I was chewing on my bottom lip until Ezabella gently called my name and drew my attention back to the land of the present.

“Honestly?” I sighed, drawing my hand away to pick up the other cup and carry it to the table, “it feels strange, almost surreal.”

I set the cup down and she took it gratefully, wrapping her calloused hands around the warm ceramic as she stared at me with soft eyes.

“You’ll be okay, I’ll support you ever step of the way.”

The look of kindness in her eyes got to me and made my heart swell, but also flared up a terrible mood swing that caused tears to prick at my eyes due to both fear and her kindness.

“Thank you,” I said, clearing my throat, “it truly means the world to me.”


	12. Check Up Number One

Ezabella’s faffing through the first month took some getting used to.

From the time I got up to the time I went to bed, she would fuss over me and take every task and job onto her own shoulders, I could barely make myself a cup of tea without her telling me to sit down and rest.

I knew that it was all out of concern for me, but there was concern and there was over doing it and she was definitely leaning more towards the latter.

It was taking her more time to adjust to my situation than it was taking me to and more than comforting me, she was unknowingly adding to the stress but it was also no surprise.

My sickness and mood swings fluctuated so often that I didn’t know how I would feel from one hour to the next, the morning sickness tended to kick in around midday and some days were worse than others.

Despite her stress to everything, Ezabella did great with being on the ball when I was feeling less than stellar and I couldn’t help but wonder if she threw herself into working and taking care of me as a distraction to the actual situation.

Every time a new job request came in, she would take it and then fret for hours about leaving me alone for so long to see to the work.

I had told her many times that it would be fine, that she didn’t even technically need to work anymore, but she would dismiss my claims and say that working helped to keep her mind off things.

So, I accepted her choice and let her do as she pleased, even if it meant we’d go through the same conversation each and every time.

It was during one of the days that she was away on a job that Avena dared to step into our lowly little village, disguised heavily and followed closely by security and healers as if that wouldn’t give her away.

I was secretly thankful for that, I didn’t want Ezabella to witness the itchy rash that was Avena.

The moment she stepped in the disaster started, she roamed around our small home making commands and judging our living condition as if it was some kind of nerve that we didn’t have servants to look after the place.

I watched her for a few minutes as she strutted around, checking our shelves for dust and pulling faces until eventually it became too much frustrating and I turned my attention to the healers who had come along, watching them unpack the equipment they had brought was a lot more fascinating.

They were more than happy to answer any questions I had about their work and answered with a friendly smile, making me feel like I was actually a part of this and not a mere bystander by chance.

The intricacies of their vocation made my pride for them swell and admire them all the more, the dedication and training that went into it all and the abilities they had learned to strengthen made me wish that I had the dedication that they did.

They certainly earned my respect more than Avena, who demanded it simply for marrying into a royal family.

“Why are you coming here for this anyway? I thought I’d be going to the palace?” I asked Yuliah, a heart shape faced healer who still looked young despite her few wrinkles.

“Well-”

“There are important guests at the palace and I can’t risk you being seen,” Avena interrupted, walking over and flopping down beside me.

“And you decided that now was the best time for my check up? When you have important   
guests?”

“Yes, you’re carrying something of mine that is more important.”

I nodded and bit my lip, making sure to keep my mouth shut to avoid voicing the opinion that had immediately sprung up at her comment.

Yuliah stepped forward and gave me a tight smile while taking my wrist in her soft hands, attaching three small circular devices to my wrist.

“What are these for?” I asked, inspecting the little objects that fluttered to life with bright blue holographic platforms which displayed different numbers, “my vital signs?”

“That’s correct,” Rosette, the second healer with a considerably sterner face, answered. “That will tell us how on track your blood pressure, pulse and temperature are.”

Yuliah smiled and moved some of her faded blonde hair from her face, “We’ll also be checking your weight and matching everything to the records you gave us on your first visit in the palace.”

“Right,” I nodded, daring to take a glance at Avena who was smirking beside me, “can I do that in privacy?”

“What for?” Avena shrugged uncaringly, her lips twisting into something that was neither a malicious grin nor a sneer but a definite ugly in-between, “you’re going to get fatter either way and I’ll bear witness to it, it’s my child and I want to be sure it’s healthy.”

“I get that, but can’t you just ask them about the results after?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, besides I need to know the intricacies of what they’re doing so that I can make my pregnancy seem more realistic, right?”

“I suppose,” I sighed, rubbing at my forehead.

“Anyway, we will also be checking other physical attributes, but we’ll explain those as we go,” Rosette continued on like a trooper, “and from those examinations we shall recommend the ways we think best for you to continue forward with diet and lifestyle choices that will benefit the child.”

“Of course,” I agreed with another nod, “makes perfect sense.”

“As it should,” she rolled her eyes a little, “though some examinations will be withheld until you can come to the palace, but we shall do our best to guide you with what we have.”

“Great and this will happen once a month?”

Yuliah looked over from the machine she had started tapping into, a comforting smile still on her face.

“Ideally for the first since months there should be one check up every four weeks and then they shall get more frequent the closer to your due date.”

“And will Loki be attending any of these?” I asked Avena.

“Why do you care about that?” She retaliated, picking at her nails.

“I’m just curious if the father-to-be wanted any involvement in this child’s life before its forced upon him.”

“That I’ll leave up to him, I couldn’t care as long as I get this baby.”

The atmosphere in the room shifted dramatically and thickened to a point where I was surprised that I could still breathe, even Rosette looked unsure of where to go and took to tidying up her already perfectly-bunned grey hair before turning her attention to the screens they had set up.

My first check up had only just started and I was already regretting my decision in going forward with this psycho’s idea.

I drew in a large breath and closed my eyes as they checked my vitals, mentally reminding myself that it was for the money.

All for the money.

At least a got a handbook to fill in as my pregnancy progressed with tips from the healers to refer to at the end of it.


	13. An Afternoon with Ezabella

The second month was easier in ways and harder in some.

Ezabella said that she wanted to be there for the next examination, if they were to come to us again, and had taken to getting fewer jobs that meant she’d be away for extended periods of time.

I explained to her that the chances of it being at home again were slim, but if it were the case that she could definitely be there to witness the horror of the mother to Loki’s child.

Thankfully, it seemed like she was getting accustomed to my situation as the changes continued to plague me.

One of the most frustrating things was the constant need to urinate, it felt like I was passing my days in the bathroom more frequently than doing anything I wanted to do.

Adding that on top of the mood swings and cravings made my days a rotation of ups and downs that poor Ezabella couldn’t keep up with, not that anyone would have expected her to if I couldn’t keep track of my needs myself.

“Stop prodding at them,” she scolded, reaching over to smack at my wrist.

I flinched and pulled my hand away from my chest, glaring at her.

“They’re mine, I can poke and prod if I want.”

“You’ll just irritate them and then you’ll whine some more.”

“I know, but I can’t help it,” I sighed, pulling the collar of my shirt back and looking down, “I can already tell that they’re getting a little bigger.”

“As to be expected but poking at them won’t help make them smaller again.”

“Like I don’t know that,” I grinned at her, “but I’m enjoying actually having a chest to talk about.”

“Your chest was fine before,” Ezabella rolled her eyes. “When is your next check-up anyway?”

“It should be soon,” I tilted my head back against the cushions of my seat, “probably just the same checks as last time.”

“Extensive.”

“They have to be, I suppose.”

As it had many times before, I soon found my hand rubbing circles on my stomach, which was already starting to expand and cause my clothes to become uncomfortable.

It had become a subconscious move, one that I sought comfort and reassurance in but for what I was never quite sure.

Ezabella turned towards me and her eyes instantly fluttered down to my hand, a gentle smile gracing her already beautiful face before she reached over and gave my growing bump a little shake.

“I can’t believe how big you are, it’s not even three months yet.”

“I know, it’s pretty insane.”

“Big baby,” she laughed softly.

“I really hope you’re wrong and they won’t be the size of a damn dragon egg.”

She let out a small tsk and licked the front of her teeth, eyeing me over before smirking.

“I don’t know, I mean the size you’re already at I wouldn’t be surprised if you had multiple dragon eggs in there.”

“Eza!” I laughed, whacking the top of her arm with the back of my hand, “are you saying that Loki is a dragon?”

“Hm, no,” she replied, tilting her head, “but by the sounds of it, his wife certainly is.”

I covered my mouth as a laugh snorted out of my nose, not an attractive sound nor one I’d have willingly made.

“You had no idea.”

“I don’t think I want to honestly,” Ezebella shook her head and trained her eyes on my stomach once again, “but on a serious note, are you supposed to be showing that much already?”

“I can only guess,” I shrugged, “every pregnancy is different, right?”

She nodded slowly, though her frown didn’t alleviate in the slightest, if anything it increased.

“Let’s hope it’s supposed to be.”

I smile and reached over, running my fingers through her hair as comfortingly as I could.

“It’s okay, Ezabella, we’ll find out soon enough if there’s something to worry about.”

“You hope that it’ll be soon.”

“Yes,” I sighed, closing my eyes, “the sooner the next nine months is over the better.”


	14. The Market

It was typical that on a day I decided to go out the weather would be gloomy and the wind bitter, but I wasn’t going to let that dampen my mood.

That morning, Ezabella and shoved a load of money into my hands with a large grin and told me to go nuts with it.

I’d looked at her in complete awe, astounded that she would give me money that she had been saving so diligently from her hard work.

When I tried to explain that I would be getting a lump of my earnings from Avena after the next check-up, she waved me off and shooed me out of the door in such a hurry that I could have gotten whiplash from her change in attitude.

Just two weeks ago she was telling me to rest as much as I could and now, she was lighting a fire under my ass to get me outside.

That wasn’t suspicious at all.

I didn’t argue and just went along with it before she changed her mind again, going out to get some fresh air that didn’t involve a one-way trip to the palace and back would do me some good.

So, just before she threw me out, I managed to wrap up warmly and slip a bag over my shoulder to carry anything I ended up buying.

But boy, was that girl going to get spoiled in return when I was paid.

The walk down to the market felt like bit of a task, mostly due to my size.

I knew it was customary not to tell others about your typically joyous news until the third month, but by the end of the second it was already getting difficult for me to hide mine.

One afternoon during my ninth week, as I was hanging our washed clothes up outside, a neighbour had spotted me and gave me a friendly welcome, as was customary in these parts.

It didn’t take long for her misted eyes to gaze downwards and a smile curved at her lips.

“Well, look at this,” she had beamed, “you’ve been keeping secrets from us, eh?”

I’d glanced down and huffed a laugh, “If only it were that easy.”

“How far gone?”

“I’m just coming up towards my tenth week.”

“Blimey, really?” Her eyed widened, “I’d have said further than that, what are you having, a Speiklip?”

“I wish,” I laughed, “at least then it’d tickle as well as tear me apart when it comes out.”

“Yeah, you have to watch out for the teeth on those fluffy bastards though.”

Our conversation continued on friendly enough, but in the back of my mind I was caught by the fact that there was no way for me to hide the truth anymore and I knew from that point on the news would spread around our neighbours.

The nosy bunch that they were.

The lack of attention I’d get at the market was one thing I looked forward to.

No one there knew me personally enough to stop and whisper about my evident bump, thinking that I didn’t know they were talking about me.

It was a break from not only being trapped indoors, but also a break from the neighbours and their chattering.

In all the hustle and bustle of the previous months, I’d forgotten how pleasant it was just to stroll from market stall to market stall and get lost in my own world while browsing.

There were a few bits and pieces I had picked up to spoil myself with, some decorative ornaments to add to my collection and some books to help whittle my time away as I continued to grow.

During my search I had also managed to find a little figurine for Ezabella’s collection.

At home, she had a small collection of figurines that depicted various creatures from myth and legend, due to how little we typically made she would save up for the longest time to buy a single one.

That collection was her pride and joy and now that I knew where I could buy some, I knew exactly what I would get her once I was paid.

Just after noon, I was sat down in the market centre with an iced bun in my hand, people watching while sating my craving and enjoying the peaceful environment.

As I ate, I found myself once again cradling the bump and talking to it occasionally, giving a running commentary on my thoughts as people passed me by to hurry along in the busy lives.

It was pleasant.

The hardest part of my morning had been resisting the temptation to buy some baby items.

It was strange for me, finally paying attention to things I had merely glanced over in the past, never having a need for them.

Which I supposed I didn’t then either, but my mind was telling me that I was the one who was pregnant and therefore it was my duty to buy things to look after the child, to keep them warm and safe, to take care of them as best as I can.

Foolishly, there had been one moment I had caved to and I knew deep down that I was setting myself up for emotional turmoil over a pair wolf paw shaped slippers.

I had loved them and instantly purchased them without thought, ever since I had regretted it but couldn’t bring myself to return them.

I wanted them and I doubt I would ever give them over, even after giving birth.

It was completely irrational and I knew that, but I couldn’t stop myself.

“You are one hell of a curse and a blessing, little one,” I sighed, patting my stomach.

Finishing my treat, I threw away the wrapper and got up from the bench, checking that I had everything still with me, I turned towards the next stall and continued my way around the market.

After another hour of buying various bits and bobs, all the while mentally cursing Ezabella for giving me so much, I found myself stood at a stall that sold books of more nefarious means.

Books on magic, the dark side of history from the realms and other various subjects that didn’t fit in amongst the otherwise cheery atmosphere of the market.

Behind the stall holder were shelves of potions, magical items and cursed ornaments, each seeming to call out to me, begging to be bought.

“It’s quite a sight to behold, isn’t it?”

I turned my attention away from the rune marked box I had been staring at to look at the man beside me, who looked down at me with a friendly smile.

I didn’t have to have seen Loki nude to know that it was him standing beside me, his arms held behind his back in the way he typically carried himself.

Despite the minor adjustments he had made to his appearance, mostly in hair length and colour, which was now somewhere between blond and copper, and the admittedly finger-comb worthy beard he was sporting, there was no way that I couldn’t recognize the glint in his eye and the cheeky smile.

“Without a doubt,” I agreed with a faint laugh and a nod.

“You don’t seem like the type to be into this kind of thing.”

“I guess looks can be deceiving, hm?”

“I suppose they can be.”

“Does the facial hair fool many people?”

“More than you’d imagine,” he chuckled.

I smiled and shook my head, stepping back from the stall to move around him as he paid for a book he had been holding in his hands and looking over as we spoke.

“It didn’t fool me, I’m afraid.”

Loki turned with me and tucked the book into a satchel at his side, together we moved towards the next stall in the row.

“As wasn’t my intention, in fact I wanted the exact opposite and made sure you would recognize me.”

“You were seeking me out? How did you know where to find me?”

“Your friend is quite helpful.”

“Eza,” I sighed and rolled my eyes, “of course.”

“I hope you don’t mind, but I was kind of hoping that we could talk.”

“I don’t exactly have the position to say no, my prince.”

“Loki will do and I would definitely say that you have every right to decline.”

“But I’d feel bad if I did.”

“Then don’t,” he replied simply, smiling an all too charming, boyish smile.

I laughed and shook my head, “We are already talking, so what is it?”’

“We’re not talking here,” he said, “tonight, we will meet at the fountain and I shall treat you to dinner.”

“I’m not sure your wife would agree to that.”

“My wife has her business with you and so do I,” Loki grimaced as his eyes darkened briefly, “but this isn’t about her.”

I chewed on my lip and nodded slowly, taking in a deep breath.

“Please,” he frowned, stopping abruptly and placing a hand on my shoulder to turn me towards him, “I just wish to know about my baby.”

Raising my gaze from the floor to meet his own, I could see the pleading and need within the blue and felt my already weak objection give a little.

“Okay,” I nodded, giving him my best smile, “just tell me when tonight.”


	15. Sordid

As planned, I met Loki at the fountain just as the sun was setting and night was darkening the sky.

Ezabella had taken great joy in helping me find a dress for the evening, her biggest concern being whether my colours should match Loki’s or not, which we decided against in the end and instead we settled for a simple, loose dress of black and a blue sash to tie around my waist.

This made me think, with a wide smile, of the baby being something akin to a present for the man I was meeting.

When I arrived, Loki was already waiting patiently, using the glow of some magic to read a book in the dimming light.

We didn’t go for the meal he had planned straight away, instead he invited me to sit beside him on the edge of the marble to watch in comfortable silence as the sun disappeared into the horizon and the sky shifted from one beautiful colour to another.

Neither of us spoke until we had arrived at our arranged table in a lovely restaurant that I had never had the funds to set foot in, let alone eat in.

It was of a class distinctly higher than the taverns I would typically visit and I immediately felt out of place, though Loki helped to put me at ease and acted as if I belonged there.

We were sat in the furthest corner, Loki facing the wall, giving me the perfect opportunity to take in the white walls with golden borders, the deep red curtains and carpet that all looked immaculately clean and the perfectly set pure white tables, topped with matching red table clothes and golden cutlery that was waiting for the next customers.

The ceiling was high with white beams the red painted panels, it was like something out of a novel that I could have only dreamt of being here.

The menu was unlike anything I had ever seen and I had to ask for Loki’s help to decipher some of the items, feeling foolish despite his good-natured laughs and reassurances that a lot of the food wasn’t common place beyond the richer people.

Eventually meals and drinks were ordered and conversation flowed, the atmosphere not being as awkward as I originally believed that it would be and people didn’t stare as I thought they would, somehow knowing that I was out of place.

I found it strange to not be inhibited by budget, Loki saying that I could eat as lavishly as I wanted with money being no issue.

“I just want to know about the child,” he said, cutting into his meat.

“There isn’t much to know at this stage,” I responded honestly, picking up my glass to take a sip.

“Perhaps not, but anything would be better than nothing.”

“Avena hasn’t been reporting back on my check-ups?”

“Not to me, I’ve heard nothing.”

The blunt way he put it didn’t convey any emotions outwardly, but it was obvious that it bothered him more than he would openly say.

Unless he was just manipulating me emotionally in hopes of getting some information, not that I particularly had anything to share in the first place.

Either way, I felt compelled to tell him the little that I knew.

That the baby was growing well, if not a bit larger than any of us had anticipated, this caused his expression to shift for the briefest of moments before it was replaced by his curious look as he spurred me to continue.

I explained how I was getting better, how the morning sickness had started to lessen about a week prior but forgetfulness had started to kick in.

“I have heard of the joys of baby brain,” he chuckled, smiling wickedly.

“It’s not as fun as it sounds,” I said, smiling back at him with a laugh, “in fact, it’s more awkward than anything.”

“I can certainly imagine, so do you know what it is yet?”

I subconsciously looked down at my bump and shrugged a little, giving it a rub for good measure.

“Not yet, it’s a little early to tell, I believe we have a few more weeks to wait.”

“I hope she’ll at least tell me that.”

“As do I,” I nodded, taking another sip of my drink, “how is her fake pregnancy going?”

Loki scoffed and rolled his eyes, “I’d rather not discuss it.”

“Okay.”

An awkward silence fell between us and we each focused intently on our meals, eventually Loki brought up the topic of the book he had bought at the market stall earlier that day and the ice broke further for us to share more about ourselves.

I’d always heard that Loki was an interesting person, but the small words had never portrayed him for how deeply fascinating he truly was.

Listening to his stories was a thrill and he seemed to enjoy telling them, the passion that sparked in his eyes as he recalled details and things he cared about filled me with equal excitement and I was so drawn into the narrative he was spinning that I never stopped to think about just how much was exaggerated on his behalf.

The evening went on wonderfully and I had one of the best times of my life.

But it wasn’t supposed to end like this.

With me looking down at him, my hands resting on his pale chest as his own rested on my hips, keeping him sheathed deeply inside me.

Our clothes were discarded carelessly on the floor, leaving a trail from the door to the bed.

He’d insisted on being on the bottom so that he could look at me as we moved, so his that his hands could roam over me and rest over my protruding stomach.

The look in his eye shifted between lust and something I couldn’t quite decipher, but if I had to hazard a guess, I’d have said that it was almost relief.

To begin with, he let me control the pace and spent most of the time staring at the bump, marveling in the fact that it was his child in there, but eventually the sensations of our sordid affair took over and he focused on bringing us both to the peak of our pleasure.

It was wrong.

Completely and horridly wrong.

I knew for a fact that in the morning I would despise us, despise myself for becoming one thing I had always hated in life.

I had always thought lowly of people who cheated and those who assisted knowingly, yet here I was, laying with a man who was married to a woman I had an agreement with.

But as we let ourselves get lost in one another, I couldn’t help the overwhelming emotions that spurred me on with a lack of conviction.

In that moment it felt right.

In that moment, it felt like he was mine.


	16. Conflictions

“I can’t believe you did that.”

I winced at her tone and the look she gave me, it reminded me of a mother scolding her child, her teenage daughter who was pregnant with her foolishly teenage brained boyfriend.

“I know, Eza,” I ran a hand through my hair and let out a long sigh, “I feel awful.”

“Why the hell did you do it?”

“I don’t know, one thing just led to another and then we found ourselves in bed.”

“Naked.”

“Yes.”

“With him balls dee-”

“Yes, Ezabella, naked and having sex, you know the story.”

She shook her head and continued to pace, her hands bunching and unbunching the bottom of her shirt.

“I’d never even thought of sex during pregnancy before, I shouldn’t have encouraged you to go.”

“You didn’t need to encourage me, I wanted to go and trust me, in the past two or so weeks I have been desperate.”

“Did the nurse say anything about risks?”

“No, but I looked into it and an increase to the libido is normal and down to the hormone shift.”

“Which has now put you in the middle of a nightmare.”

“Not really, I was already in the middle of a nightmare and she doesn’t have to know.”

Ezabella stopped pacing and stared at me like I’d grown another head, her eyes flaring in irritation that she was struggling to hold back.

“This is wrong, you should tell her.”

“No, she’ll have my head, besides it’s not like she gives a damn either way.”

“And what if she does? What if Avena truly loves Loki but it just horrible at expressing herself?”

Her comment caused me to pause and think over her words.

Truthfully, I hadn’t even thought of the possibility that Avena struggled to show her emotions candidly and it never crossed my mind to even consider that she loved Loki in her own, strangely selfish way.

The entire time I had reassured myself by using Loki’s mannerisms and behavior about his marriage, the fact that he was the God of Mischief and known for lying completely bypassing me.

I was being willfully blind to tell myself that what I did was okay and admitting that fact made me feel bad, in fact it made me sick to my stomach to think about.

Yet, I didn’t feel half as bad as I should have.

Avena had already been nothing but horrid through the experience and I found it hard to feel any kind of sympathy towards her, she was already getting the child I was growing for her due to her own vanity.

Apart from money to keep me stable, I was getting nothing out of this deal aside from emotional torment, but I had no room to complain as it was my own doing.

I agreed to this, I had dug this grave to give me and Ezabella a better life.

“Maybe you shouldn’t see Loki again.”

My eyes snapped to Ezabella and my heart jolted uncomfortably.

Her expression had calmed down and her own eyes had softened, but it didn’t nothing to lessen the blow of her words.

However, I had to reluctantly agree that she was right, perhaps it was best that we kept our distance from one another if we didn’t want things to spiral beyond our control more than it already had.

Though Loki hadn’t shown any signs of regret, at least not outwardly.

The morning after our affair, Loki had stayed behind to talk with me in a moment that was more intimate that it probably should have been.

We stayed in bed for a good hour after waking, I hadn’t expected to see him there and thought that he was going to leave during the night to get back to the palace as to not seem suspicious, but he hardly seemed concerned about Avena questioning anything.

Instead, when we were both awake, he wrapped his arms around he and pulled me closer so that my back was to his chest, one arm remaining secured in the curve of my hip while his other hand rested on my bump.

It was nice to just lie there and talk like what we had done wasn’t anything wrong, like we were just like any other couple who were expecting a child together.

Loki’s lack of care about it helped to ease my own worry and allowed me to just nestle in the moment, enjoying our impromptu cuddle session, unlike the other times after we had sex, which mostly just involved me getting rushed out of the room as quickly as possible.

If Loki had reacted differently, I wouldn’t have found it so hard to accept Ezabella’s idea, but the fact that he didn’t even speak of what we did, didn’t mention any regret or denied the possibility of it ever happening again allowed me to foolishly trick my mind into not feeling bad.

While I wholeheartedly knew that I should have felt more disgusted with myself than I did, as I had fully expected to after the fact, I instead felt calm and serene.

I left that rented room feeling better than I had in weeks.

“Maybe you’re right,” I finally nodded in agreement.

“I don’t think there’s a maybe about it.”

“There is a maybe though, that’s just a fact,” I shrugged, “because if Loki wishes to visit me then I can’t very well say no, this is his child as well as hers.”

“Exactly, you do understand that the child is hers, right? It’s not yours, not technically.”

“I know, Ezabella,” I frowned, rubbing over my bump slowly while resting my head on my other hand and allowing my eyes to fall closed. “I know.”


	17. The Fourth Check

The month leading up to the end of my fourth one had been a long and bumpy ride of emotion, the ups and downs of my internal conflict only made worse by the hormones coursing through me.

At least I was feeling more energetic these days though, that was a bonus.

My last check-up had been difficult, although I still didn’t feel too bad about what had happened between me and Loki, I still didn’t particularly want to face Avena.

Part of me wanted to tell all while the other wanted to act oblivious and mixing both turned my head into a mass of confusion.

Somehow, I managed to keep my cool and no one seemed to suspect a thing, but paranoia spiked and at times made me believe that they knew and simply weren’t going to confront me, not yet at least.

Throughout the whole thing, Avena acted just as indignant as she always did, making demands of everyone and constantly being a distraction.

This time, she brought in a confidant to help her shape her false bump to match mine as best as they could.

He was a handsome man and much about him reminded me of Loki, his physique and the confidence he held himself with was very akin to her husband.

Though his eyes were almost a strange gold and his hair was short, spiked and a light brown, a stark contrast to Loki, this man seemed kind and gentle and had immediately welcomed me with a warm smile.

He introduced himself as Dyrius and held conversation with me throughout the check-up, I learned more about him in an hour than I had about Avena in three months.

I had hoped that he would be there at my next one.

Ezabella teased me about him when I got home, stating how I’d found my own baby daddy and would soon have an actual family of my own.

Naturally, I told her where to shove it and she laughed at me.

The next passing month before my check-up proved a lot more uneventful.

No affairs were had, Ezabella left for two weeks of well paid work, I received my first payment and set it aside for the debts we agreed to be paid off when she got back. 

I spent most of my time inside, my energy levels not agreeing with the aches my bump was causing.

Truth be told, the mystery of how big it was started to get to me and took over many thoughts, so I vowed to get to the bottom of it during my next check-up, the first one of my second trimester.

So, as I sat on the edge of the bed in the infirmary, watching the healers as they set everything up, I vowed to ask the questions that had been building over the past few weeks.

Why was my fourth month bump the size of an average sixth month bump.

Were there multiple children? And if so, what would we do in that situation?

Just how big was I going to get?

Yuliah smiled at me in her typically friendly way, instantly lightening the antsy mood that I was in.

“Don’t you worry, this will all go by faster than you’d think.”

“That wouldn’t surprise me,” I said, returning her smile, “the past few months have already shot by.”

“You have been so good.”

“Thanks, I suppose it’s a point of having to.”

Yuliah nodded in silent agreement, working in setting up the screens and apparatus that she would be using on me, looking at each piece sent a strange feeling through my stomach, though that also could have been the baby moving.

“How is Avena doing in her pregnancy?” I asked, wanting to fill the conversation as sitting silently was making me anxious.

“Well, let us say that she isn’t a very good actress, but she is doing her best and most seem to be fooled.”

“Most?”

“Yes, there are some who can detect a lie from the moment someone steps into the room, she has earned particular disfavour with them,” Yuliah looked at me and gave me a coy smile, “but you didn’t hear that from me.”

I laughed and made a stitching motion over my mouth, added with a nod of understanding.

“Now, let us get you all measured up.”

I settled into the routine and let Yuliah do her thing, waiting as she checked what was needed, including the height of my uterus and my blood pressure, before moving onto the babies’ needs.

It was strange to think that they could tell so much about the child while they were still in the womb, the fact that any defects could be picked up on so early blew my mind, even if it meant waiting anxiously for results from a blood test.

Those were a few terrible hours, ones where I would have to wait around in the palace before getting the results back and being allowed to go home.

“Does anything seem to be amiss?” I asked as I looked at her, watching her stare intently at the screen as she moved a strange looking scanning device over my stomach.

If anything, it looked more like a thin film of blue light that was attached to her fingers, an intricate decoration of yellow symbols flexing and fading as it moved.

“Nothing so far,” Yuliah shrugged, looking at me from the corner of my eye, “they seem like a healthy baby.”

“And there’s only one?”

“There is, which I surprising all things considered.”

“Is there a reason they would be this big?”

“There are some, sometimes babies are just kind of big, but this one is something else, I think maybe you should speak to Avena about it.”

“Speaking of, where is Avena? She’s always at the check-ups.”

“She sent a note down saying that she was busy with something but will be down as soon as she can to see how you are developing.”

“Not that it makes any sense to her anyway.”

“No, but clip-notes work well.”

I hummed and rested my head back, letting Yuliah continue on with her work and mumble to herself as she went.

On occasion I would catch a glimpse of what she was putting down and made a mental note of it, knowing that Ezabella would want to know what she could once I got back.

Sometimes I thought that she was too caught on to the idea of there being a child in the house, which made it impossible to remind her continuously that we weren’t keeping them, I was merely a carrier, a means to an end.

Finally, Yuliah began to ask my questions about my exercise routine, giving advice on my diet and showed concern about the toll this child was already taking on my back and the swellings it was causing then finally a soft smile returned to her lips as always, though this one seemed gentler and somehow sadder than usual.

“Would you like to hear the heartbeat?”

I stared at her then furrowed my brows in thought.

It would have been an amazing thing to experience, that was undeniable, but did I want to risk myself getting attached more than I already denied that I was?

Eventually, I begrudgingly shook my head and denied the request with a; “Thank you.”

Yuliah merely nodded slowly.

“I understand, would you at least like to know the gender?”

“You can tell that already?”

“With how big they are, I think it would be impossible to miss,” she laughed.

I liked her laugh, it reminded me of a little belt lightly jingling, somehow I even found it strangely soothing.

“Yes,” I said hesitantly, “I would like to know.”

With a flick of her wrist, the holographic screen turned towards me and I saw the baby for the first time, curled up inside of me and growing at an exponential rate.

Yuliah was talking to me, but I was finding it hard to concentrate on what she was saying, I found myself too focused on staring at the picture as it flexed and moved as the baby shifted.

Before, I had refused to look, for the same reasons I hadn’t wanted to hear the heartbeat, I’d never regretted it but now, I was beyond glad that she had swiveled the screen around before I could protest.

Emotions swelled stronger than I would have thought, tears pricked at my eyes despite the cheek-aching smile that hurt my cheeks as I took in the little contours that were displayed.

The outline of their head and the barely developed features had enraptured me completely.

Even if I wouldn’t be a mum to this baby, I was still biologically their mother and yet somehow I couldn’t believe that that was growing inside of me.

Eventually, I pulled myself back together and looked at her, my vision blurry as the tears rolled down my cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” I managed to choke out, “what did you say it was?”

Yuliah merely smiled and stared at the screen, her face reminding me of a proud mother herself.

“It’s a boy, a healthy little boy.”


	18. A Needed Talk

My leg bounced uncontrollably, the anxiousness of my blood results getting to me as I sat outside in the corridor to wait.

Ever since I got the news that it was a little boy, I found myself unable to stop talking to him and cooing while caressing my bump, as if just by finding out what I was carrying made me feel closer than I was previously.

Before, it seemed easier to distance myself somehow.

I also found that I was ridiculously giddy, mentally I reprimanded myself as I knew that I shouldn’t be and yet I couldn’t help it.

I was already getting dangerously attached and I still had five months to wait before he decided it was time to meet the world, reminding myself that he wasn’t mine didn’t help in the slightest.

The book I had brought to keep myself occupied was lying ignored on my lap, my mind was far too distracted to be able to take in anything of the contents anyway and I knew that I would end up having to re-read paragraphs once I was at home.

“You really are something,” I said, running a hand over my bump again.

“But a healthy something, I’m presuming.”

I jumped and whipped my head to the side, my book falling to the floor as I practically jumped up, as best as I could at least, as the All-Mother drew closer in slow steps, her face as friendly and welcoming as ever.

“Please, don’t stand on my account.”

“But my Queen, that is only the right thing to do.”

“Not when you are so heavy with child,” she smiled, a sparkle in her eye that reminded me so much of Loki.

I dared not to argue with her, so slowly sat back down as courteously as I could.

Frigga stopped before me and leaned over, scooping my book up from the floor and turning it over in her hands, her kind eyes roaming over the cover as she inspected it.

“A book about creatures from the nine realms?” She said, taking a seat beside me, “that sounds like quite an intriguing read.”

“Oh, it definitely is,” I smiled with a nod, “I have learned of many things in just a few pages, did you know that on Midgard they have these beings called Wraiths?”

“I did not and what would a Wraith be?”

“Apparently it’s a form of spirit or ghost most known in one of their countries of Scotland.”

Frigga gave a slow and understanding nod, one that showed that she was listening and taking in what I was saying.

“It sounds terrifying.”

“I can imagine it would be encountering,” I laughed.

“But, not as terrifying as what you’re currently living through.”

Gently, she set the book down on my lap and let her hand linger on top of it, her eyes staring into mine.

I found that I could only nod dumbly, my mouth hanging partially open.

“Yes, indeed.”

“You are quite large already, you almost look to be full term,” Frigga pulled away, sidling towards me in her seat and resting her hands in her lap.

How did she manage to make every move of hers look so fluid?

It was astounding how much Loki took after her.

“I feel as if I’m full term too,” I laughed, trying to break my strange unease.

“It must be difficult for you, taking quite a toll.”

“In general, yes, but for the most part I’m alright and he is apparently doing well, though I am still waiting on my results.”

“It’s a boy?” 

Her eyes lit up a little and her smile widened, though it seemed as if she was trying to dampen them both down.

“Yes,” I smiled back, my hand resting once again on the top of my stomach and feeling him move hauntingly beneath my palm, “I had that confirmed today.”

“Oh my, Loki will be most excited.”

My heart skipped a few beats and I let out an audible gasp, my eyes meeting hers in panic.

“Relax,” she said softly, unclasping her hands and resting one on top of mine, “surely you didn’t think that I wouldn’t have known?”

“I suppose not,” I shook my head, “I’m honestly not sure why I was so surprised.”

She smiled wryly and gave my hand a gentle squeeze, so gentle that initially I thought that I had imagined it.

“I’m sorry that you have been dragged into this.”

“Please, don’t be, this was all my own doing, I needed the money.”

“It is a lot to put yourself through for money.”

“It was the best offer I’ve ever had and I couldn’t say no, though sometimes I wish I had.”

“You have agreed to change yourself through so much for someone who will never be grateful, that simply isn’t her way.”

I shook my head again, staring at our hands resting atop my regret and my joy.

Frigga remained silent, as if knowing that I needed to take a moment, which I was thankful for.

It always astounded me how her mere presence would make the air around you feel that much calmer, I had always admired the All-Mother and that admiration only grew during my stay at the palace.

At times, it seemed like she and Thor were the only one who truly gave a damn that I was around at all.

“How long have you known?” I finally asked.

“I had my suspicions that something was amiss from the start, but they were further confirmed by Avena.”

“She opened up to you?”

Frigga let out a laugh, closing her eyes and tilting her head back a little as if it was the funniest thing that she had heard.

“Hardly, but she believes that she is smarter than I and that she can fool me with simple illusion magic.”

I looked at Frigga and smiled widely, happy that someone on the inside was giving me genuine information on the woman I still barely knew.

“Besides, isn’t it suspicious that you collapse and get a positive result merely weeks before she announces to the room that she too is pregnant?”

“A smarter person would definitely have waited a while longer,” I laughed softly, “and I thought that you were supposed to keep the news with only a few close people during your first trimester?”

“Traditionally, but she isn’t the brightest spark to the spell.”

I covered my mouth and laughed, my smile widening as Frigga pulled away and relaxed a little more into her seat, though keeping her regal stature as if it came naturally to her and it never fell away.

“Though I’m disappointed that my son’s true child is being passed off as a stable lad’s,” she sighed, “there is no shame to admitting to a surrogate, but that would take the attention away from her I suppose.”

“I’m presuming that she’s making a big deal about it?”

“Only the biggest,” she rolled her eyes a little, something I never thought I would see the All-Mother do, “barely four months in and she’s already demanding gifts for her and the child.”

“It sounds like a nightmare.”

“At this rate she will be the next coming of Ragnarok.”

Out of nowhere, a bubble of guilt started to churn my stomach.

While I had absolutely no doubt that Avena would have weaseled out someone else if I had declined, I still felt terrible at going through with this deal and causing everyone to go through all of this.

All for my own selfish needs.

Although I knew it was mostly the ever-shifting hormones talking, I soon found my eyes clouded with tears and felt my bottom lip beginning to twitch.

“I’m sorry.”

Frigga turned her head towards me, her eyebrows furrowing in concern.

“Whatever for?”

“This is my fault, I agreed to do this and now everyone is suffering with her and we’re all lying to everyone and Loki is in a loveless marriage.”

I knew how ridiculous I was beginning to sound, especially the latter part which I knew was completely beyond my decision.

Tears were already rolling down my cheeks when I felt two pairs of arms wrap around me and pull me towards her, letting me rest my head on her shoulder as she rubbed my back.

“You silly girl, this has nothing to do with you.”

“But I agreed to do this for her, to lie to you all and string people along just for payment and now she’s lying, Loki is obviously miserable and,” a hiccup broke my sentence and I ended up sniffling

“That is no concern of yours, unfortunately she has her ways of going about things and Loki has his, they rarely meet in the middle.”

Frigga’s hand moved from my back to my hair where she started stroking it and letting out gentle ‘shush’ sounds, much like a mother comforting their distressed child.

“Loki is a grown man who must make his choices for himself,” she pulled away a little, helping me sit up straight before cupping my hands in her hands and brushing the tears from my cheeks with her thumbs, “and I honestly believe that you could help him with that.”

I frowned in confusion and shook my head, my breathing still ragged.

“I don’t follow.”

“You shall,” she said, moving a bit of hair from my face before dropping her hands and standing from her seat, “please, speak to him before that child is born.”

Frigga gave a courteous bow of her head and turned to walk back in the way that she had previously come from, leaving me sat there.

“Wait.”

She stopped and half turned to look at me, giving me a look that urged me to continue.

“Do you know why this child is so big?”

Frigga let out a song of a laugh and smiled that kind smile once again.

“Of course I do, but I would rather encourage you to speak to Loki about it.”

Her eyes flickered to the infirmary doors just as they opened and my name was called, she bid me a good afternoon before heading off and leaving me to retrieve my results.


	19. Loki's Library

Considering the size of the palace, Loki hadn’t been particularly hard to find.

In fact, the main thing that slowed me down was the awkward leaning back waddle I had adapted to walking with, boy was that going to look attractive by the end of this ride.

I found him with a group of fighters I vaguely recognized facially but didn’t recall the names of, laughing and joking amongst themselves.

Luckily, as I neared, they dispersed, them going one way and Loki another, his face instantly dropping and his eyes rolling when he knew they couldn’t see.

“Don’t look too thrilled to see me.”

Loki jolted as if just being brought back to Asgard and looked at me, blinking his stupor away.

“Oh, I do apologise,” he smiled, “I didn’t even realize you were there.”

“Well yeah,” I laughed with a shrug, “I mean, I’m easily missed.”

He laughed softly as he checked me over, not too secretly either, until his eyes stopped at my stomach.

“You’re quite big,” he said.

I huffed a laugh through my nose and nodded slowly.

“Yeah, to put it lightly.”

“Are you here for your check-up?”

“I was, I just finished it.”

“Really? And how did it go?”

“That is actually why I am this deep into the palace,” I smiled unsurely, suddenly feeling uneasy, “usually I would just leave as quickly as I can so no one will see me, but Frigga suggested that I come to speak to you.”

“Mother did?”

I nodded, tapping a light tune onto my bump as a means of comfort.

“Yes, she came to see me and said you should be who I talked to about my questions.”

Loki regarded me for a minute and then smiled, dipping his head.

“I would love to answer your questions, let us find somewhere more private.”

Loki stepped up beside me and placed a hand on the small of my back, leading me down the hall.

The coldness of his hand almost immediately seeped through my clothes, at first it startled me before it started to feel like a comfort on my warm skin.

I’d forgotten just how chilled his skin was, by this point I would have believed that I’d remember as it wasn’t too long ago that we had slept together again, but I decided to chalk it down to baby brain and leave it at that.

We walked for what felt like an eternity, mostly due to all my aches and the additional weight, before Loki opened a door and gently nudged me inside.

I wasn’t sure how I hadn’t noticed, but Loki had been leading me to his infamous library.

The one that only a select few people could enter.

“Please,” he said as the doors banged shut and he locked them behind him, “get comfortable.”

I glanced at him then moved towards the steps that led down to the aisles, noticing the slight cold bite in the air.

Holding onto the wooden rail, I carefully made my way down while admiring the rows upon rows of ridiculously tall and seemingly never-ending bookshelves.

At the bottom of the stairs I stepped into to a patterned, green and black tiled circle, a thick gold trim rimming the outside before leading down to the long path down the middle of the bookshelves.

Directly to my left was a study area, complete with a dark wood cabinet and desk, while to my right was a reading area with the plushest looking furniture set I had ever seen and a large fireplace.

Just looking at it made my aching muscles and joints cry out with relief.

I chose to sit down in one of the settee corners, Loki watching with mild amusement as I eased myself down and instantly got comfortable.

“Oh wow, this is amazing.”

“Thank you,” he chuckled, sitting down in the chair that was diagonally to my right. “Would you like the fireplace lit?”

I looked at the beautiful structure and bit my lip, feeling completely out of my depth but nodding nonetheless.

Loki smiled as if he had expected that answer and worked a bit of magic, quite literally, to spark a fire to life.

“Stunning,” I sighed, watching the green tinged flames flicker, “you must have had many romantic times here.”

“Not particularly,” Loki shrugged while leaning back in his seat, “Avena isn’t particularly keen on reading.”

“No one said with Avena,” I laughed.

He looked at me then shook his head with a smile.

“Contrary to many beliefs, I don’t get around as much as others would have you believe.”

“Really?”

“Honestly, I’ve had a few guests but never anything explicit, I wouldn’t want to taint my collection.”

I laughed and curled up further in my corner, instantly feeling at ease in his company and settled with the knowledge that it wasn’t likely that Avena would barge in and find me still within her home, which was like a cardinal sin to her.

“So,” Loki started, shifting in his seat to face me better, “you had questions?”

“Ah, yes, mostly about the size of the baby.”

“The size?” His eyes dropped down and for a few quiet seconds he stared as if lost in his own world, “I guess you do look further along than you should, but why ask me?”

“Frigga said that you would be the one to ask about it.”

He let out a sigh and leaned back in his seat, his tongue running along his bottom lip as he stared at the floor by his feet.

“Are you certain you wish to know?” Loki finally asked, meeting my eyes again.

“I am.”

He gave a brief nod then took in a long breath, holding it before exhaling as if to calm some nerves.

“The child will be half Jotun.”

One of my eyebrows twitched a little, raising towards my hairline as I process the information that he had just given me.

“Um, pardon?”

His face darkened and he looked away, glowering towards the fire like the pensive hero in a novel.

“Don’t think I’m pleased about it either.”

“I didn’t for a second, I was more shocked.”

Though things did click into place, from my size to the fact that his skin had a perpetual chill to it.

“Though it may have been nice to know before getting into this,” I laughed softly, trying to lighten the mood.

“I didn’t want anyone to find out, I haven’t even told Avena formally, though I expect that she can put two and two together.”

“I’m surprised she can even do that.”

“Come now, Avena may be a total cretin but you have to admit that she is somewhat intelligent.”

For some reason, hearing him loosely defending her made my stomach flip uncomfortably, which I decided to push aside in claims of it just being due to the baby shifting.

“Right, so I should expect a big baby,” I nodded, trying to divert the conversation.

“Perhaps, it’s hard to say really, maybe they will grow to a point and stop,” Loki looked back at me, “I’m not what any would call Jotun sized myself.”

“I’m not exactly tall, so near enough everyone is Jotun sized to me.”

He let out a polite chuckle and smiled, though it didn’t quite get to his eyes, it was evident that the frost giant thing was a huge issue to him and I didn’t wish to put it any further.

“Aside from that things are going well, they’re healthy, I’m healthy and I learned the gender today.”

This definitely caught his attention and he sat up in his chair, practically leaning towards me in his sudden excitement.

“Really?” He smiled, “already? What is it?”

I was tempted to draw out the reveal, make him wait an agonizing time before telling him but felt that after the little somber moment from before, he deserved at least one break in life.

“It’s a boy, Loki.”

His smile widened to the point where even looking at it caused my own cheeks to ache, the brightest spark I had ever witnessed lighting up his eyes.

In a move so fast that it would put a leeyair bug to shame, he had moved from his original seat to the spot beside me and looked at me both enthusiastically but also hesitantly.

“Can I touch it?”

It took me a second to realize what he was asking, but once it clicked I laughed and nodded.

Pushing myself up further in my seat and turning to face him, I crossed my legs on the cushion and lifted the hem of my shirt, revealing the bump in all its tight skinned, stretchmarked glory.

Loki stared at it for a moment then scooted along the cushion and placed his hands on my stomach, seeming almost hesitant as he did.

“I can’t believe my child is in there,” he whispered, more to himself than me.

“It’s pretty astounding, isn’t it?”

He nodded, still staring pointedly at where his hands were resting.

“If you’re lucky, maybe he’ll kick for you.”

Loki chuckled lightly, “That would be perfect timing, wouldn’t it?”

“He’s been rather active lately, so there’s every chance.”

We sat like that for a while, Loki caressing my bump and talking to his son as I watched, a warm smile on my lips as I dreamt of one day having this with a husband of my own.

In this moment of bliss, I tried to not think of Avena and my jealousy towards her or worry about her suddenly throwing open the doors and interrupting this little moment.

This was our moment, mine to cherish, not hers.

Time passed by too quickly and somewhere within the library, a clock chimed loudly which caused Loki to sigh and pull away.

“I’m afraid that it’s time for me to get back to my duties.”

“That’s a shame, but I’m glad we had this together.”

“I am too.”

My heart fluttered as he smiled at me, had I been naïve enough I would have thought it was a look of admiration, perhaps of love.

“Before we both go our separate ways, there is something I must ask.”

I nodded, pulling my shirt back over my bump and adjusting it to sit comfortably.

“Avena shall be away for two weeks next month, I would like you to come here and stay with me.”

My eyes widened in surprise and I looked at him, uncertain of what to think.

“Really? But what about others getting suspicious? What if word gets out?”

Loki shrugged, his care for the truth of the situation obviously not something he was bothered by, at least not in that moment.

“People will talk about anything and I say let them talk, I want to spend time with my real child.”


	20. Cordially Invited

Ezabella was less than thrilled about Loki’s invitation, even less so when I told her that I had accepted it.

The conversation bounced back and forth with point after point until I pointed out that she had also been invited, Loki saying that I was welcome to bring her along and show her how I had lived while being impregnated.

Her attitude almost took an instant shift from angry, to surprised, to giddy.

“Seriously? I get to go into the finest depths of Asgard?”

“Yeah, it seems so.”

“Oh, by Baldur’s fate!” She squealed in excitement, hopping up and down excitedly with her hands pressed to her face.

I watched her move, feeling my head starting to throb as my eyes trailed her before I had to look away.

Honestly, I loved seeing her so happy and wanted to join in on her excitement, but for obvious limitations I couldn’t and had to settle with beaming widely at her.

“Please stop bouncing,” I laughed, rubbing my forehead, “you’re giving me motion sickness.”

“I don’t think I can, I’m so excited.”

“I never would have guessed.”

Ezabella suddenly pounced onto the cushion beside me, grabbing my hand tightly and grinning wide enough to make my cheeks ache just from looking at it.

“When are we going? How long for? What should I pack?”

“We leave at the end of this week, it’s for two weeks and I don’t know, clothes and entertainment?”

“I don’t even know what I have,” she groaned before getting up as quickly as she’d jumped down, “I need to search around.”

She continued to mutter to herself in giddy excitement while shooting off down the hall, leaving me sat near-alone in utter bemusement.

I leaned back in my seat and put my feet up, knowing that the next week would pass with constantly unpacking and repacking of her bag as she paced and muttered and ranted in eagerness.

Perhaps it would have been best if I held off the announcement for a little while longer, but I had so much going on in my mind that letting one small thing out already felt like a huge weight off my shoulders.

I still wasn’t sure how I was going to break the biggest news to her.

How were you supposed to tell your best friend that you were carrying and going to push out a baby half-Jotun?

It wasn’t news that I could imagine being announced often, unless there were many women about who had managed to sleep with Loki and get pregnant before his marriage, heck maybe even during his marriage, but the fact that no such rumours had sparked certainly didn’t give that impression.

Had such a thing been spread about, I’d have been inclined to try and track one of these ladies down to ask a question.

It was hard to push down the fear that grew in my throat, I was just over halfway through this pregnancy and I wasn’t sure how I could face pushing out this baby if he got any bigger.

At times, it felt as though I would be near immobile by the time the ninth month came around, purely from the size of the child and that worried me as well.

Aches, swells and pains I could cope with, but being stuck in bed with only my own thoughts seemed like a nightmare.

Pulling my shirt over my stomach, I looked at the large bulge and ran my hand over it, feeling the bumps and crevices that the stretchmarks created.

I remembered that the healer had given me a salve two months prior during a checkup, when it was evident that my bump was going to be larger than average, that she said would help to tame the marks but I found that I didn’t wish to cover them.

I felt almost proud of them, in some warped sense.

I did, however, wish that she had given me a salve to help with my swollen ankles and sore nipples.

That and maybe something to stop my growing appetite, which had led me to getting up and heading to the kitchen to hunt down something to fill my craving.

Thankfully, nothing too bizarre had sparked during my appetite spikes yet, but I was waiting and lying in wait for the moment the worst one would kick in, the need for something strange rather than merely feeling hungry and needing food.

As I hunted through the cupboards, I could hear Ezabella rummaging through her belongings and muttering to herself.

It was nice, this little moment of calm sereneness and it had me smiling.

She was going to love the palace, I just knew it.


	21. To the Palace

The carriage ride to the palace was jittery and made me feel motion sick, this wasn’t helped by Ezabella’s excited shifting as she gazed out the windows on either side.

I had never travelled well to begin with, but the added back and forth from her was making it a thousand times worse, but I didn’t have the heart to tell her to calm down.

It was cute, she was acting as though she had never been on a journey in her life, as if the jobs we were hired for didn’t take us around the realms and give us a chance to see some amazing sights.

Throughout the entire trip, she rambled and gasped and made comments about near enough everything, all the while I had my head tilted back with my eyes closed as I tried to focus on anything but the rocking of the carriage.

Somehow, her jaw dropped open further as we pulled up outside the palace.

“Wow, this place is so huge and shiny up close,” she gasped, causing me to snort out a laugh.

“Yes, Eza, that is very true.”

She looked at me and smiled sheepishly, blushing when she realized just how adorably ridiculous and childlike she had sounded.

Once the carriage had come to a full stop, the doors were wrenched open and we were both hastily led out into the open as our bags were retrieved and carried inside ahead of us.

Everything was going at such a hectic pace that even my aches and pains of pregnancy went ignored, before I knew what was happening, I was being whisked inside to the guest hall by some guards while other palace workers stood in a row on either side of us.

It was surreal.

I hadn’t expected Loki to make such a deal about it, we were supposed to be being inconspicuous after all.

Poor Ezabella looked nervous as we walked through the halls, people on either side of us to greet their guests.

As we passed, the well dressed maids and servants of Asgard dipped their heads.

It was amazing how these people were dressed to the nines as if we were royalty, it felt nice, even if for a minute I felt like I was being judged heavily.

Ezabella clung close to my side but gave everyone a smile as if she belonged there, typical of her to be welcoming to pretty much anyone.

“Hey Eza,” I grinned, nudging her arm, “I think that girl is eyeing you.”

She looked to where I was indicating as discretely as she could, a blush coating her cheeks as she hastily looked away again.

“Stop, she isn’t.”

“She is, maybe you should talk to her later.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not? Will your girlfriend from another realm that I don’t know not like it?”

I laughed as she sharply nudged me in the ribs before linking her arm around mine tightly, giving me a glare I was used to from the years of knowing her.

“Hey,” I pouted at her, jutting my lip out as far as I could, “I’m delicate.”

“You will be when I’m through with you.”

She gave me a playful smile then went back to admiring the people who were starting to disperse to continue with their various jobs, the guards in front of us continuing to lead us to the guest hall where Loki was waiting.

My stomach flipped and my heart thudded excitedly in my chest at the prospect of seeing him.

I felt like a young girl with a crush, a very taboo crush on her tutor.

Her married tutor who she had had an affair with and gotten pregnant by.

Ezabella nudged me hard in the ribs, causing me to groan and glare at her again.

“Can you stop that?”

“You were zoning out, what’s with you?”

I looked at her for a moment and then looked away, shaking my head.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me,” her tone sounded exasperated, “it’s Loki, isn’t it?”

“What? How di-”

“It’s always been Loki lately,” she smiled, “I think someone is in love.”

“I’m not in love,” I flushed, “it’s all the shifting hormones, they’re making me confused.”

She gave me a disbelieving hum and a smirk.

The guards stopped outside the now familiar doors and bowed their heads deeply while pulling a door open each, allowing us to step past and into the room where Loki sat at the head of a long table, waiting for us.

There was a large spread across the table, the smells and look of the fancy food instantly making my stomach growl. 

Ezabella’s eyes grew wide and I could practically see the drool running down her chin.

“I was starting to think that you weren’t coming,” he said, lifting his cup to his lips and taking a sip, “please, sit down and get tucked in, I think it’s time we got acquainted.”


	22. Valuable Time

It was almost devilish, how much fun I was having with Loki felt like the biggest emotional thrill I had experienced in a long time.

We were four days into the first week of our visit and things were going amazingly well.

Loki was proving to be a fantastic host, his family was extremely welcoming and the workers didn’t appear to ask questions as to why we were there without Avena, especially as they knew me as her friend from the last time.

Ezabella had spent most of her time wandering around the palace, telling me later on in great detail how she had met someone along the way and they had given her a tour around the area she was searching, telling her the history as well as personal stories.

It was fantastic that she was enjoying herself and it gave me a chance to spend some one on one time with Loki, which tended to mostly consist of us sitting around and reading as he stroked my ever-growing bump.

Sometimes, he would sit on the floor as I lounged across the comfortable seat in his library and read to the baby, in these moments of peace, I would close my eyes and play with his hair, sometimes I even ended up dozing off.

The only way I could have been happier in those moments was if I could say that Loki was mine.

For now, I had to settle with what I got.

Night had taken over once again and the palace had begun to start winding down, for the most part.

We had all eaten and people were either starting to trickle out of the feasting hall to go to their rooms or, in the case of the warriors, they huddled around a table in the far corner, getting ready for a night of drinking.

Ezabella had left with a servant girl, both of them giggling and sharing looks that filled my heart with excitement and hope for her.

Once I had had my fill, I stood up and bid the people at my table a goodnight before heading out, slowly making my way to my guest room.

To no surprise, I was stopped by Loki catching up to me before I had even made it to the second corridor.

“May I ask, do you have plans tonight?”

I looked at him as he smiled, a handsome, genuine smile.

“I was just going to lie in bed and read a little.”

“Excellent, perhaps you can join me in my bed tonight.”

I stared at him for a moment then smiled widely and nodded, not having to think of the decision for a second.

“I would absolutely love to.”

And that was how I ended up naked once again in Loki’s marital bed, only this time without the buffer excuse of attempting to get pregnant.

Though unlike last time, where he had had to be quick and callous about our short affair, Loki took his time to make sure that I was cared for and showed a gentler side than what I’d seen previously.

During our attempts, he had been uncaring and mostly trying to get a job done, he’d barely speak to me before or after and never bothered with any aftercare, instead choosing to leave that to Avena and myself while he rolled over and went to sleep.

Even then, Avena would typically just shoo me out of the room and leave me to it.

Unlike those times, Loki had been caring and kind, making me feel like I was the only woman in the world.

When I had come out of the bathroom after having a long and relaxing soak to help ease my pains, he told me how beautiful I was and took advantage of the fact that I was only covered by a towel.

“Don’t get dressed,” he had smirked at me, “let me join you after I’m done, we can read in the way I’m most comfortable doing it when alone.”

Apparently, Loki had a penchant for reading nude while in the privacy of his own quarters, a fact I found oddly endearing, though it had become a less frequent habit after he had gotten married.

Avena didn’t take kindly to it, for reasons unknown.

Once Loki was out of the bathroom, he picked up a book and threw back the covers to his bed, giving me an open invitation to climb inside and get comfortable.

He slid in behind me and pressed against my back, one arm resting propped up so that he could rest his head on his palm while the other lay atop my shoulder, holding the open book.

“Are you comfortable?” He asked.

“For the most part, your bed is much comfier than my one at home, but I usually have something to rest my stomach on top of.”

Loki nodded and pulled away, shifting around for a brief moment before maneuvering us around so that he could slide a sturdy pillow beneath my bump.

“Better?” He said once we’d settled back into our initial position.

“Very,” I nodded, smiling over my shoulder at him.

“Wonderful, then let us begin.”

He started reading and I instantly got lost in his voice.

How I loved that voice.

The book he had chosen was a series of Asgardian folktales, full of fantastical characters and morals for children to learn as they grew older.

There were some stories I hadn’t heard of and knew I would end up re-reading myself, especially as I was finding it progressively more difficult to concentrate on what he was saying.

Although I was enjoying the reading session, my mind kept flickering back and forth to our current position.

How it felt to have him pressed up against me, his voice soothing and yet also ridiculously alluring.

Much to my chagrin, my body ended up betraying me and reacted with a large spike of hormones that flushed through me and I found myself aroused once again, something that was becoming a progressive problem.

I tried to ignore the growing pressure in my privates and tingle of my chest and worked extra hard to focus on what he was saying, not the dirty images that played in my head.

I tried to force away the thought of his hand kneading at my sore breasts and then running down the outside of my thigh before moving to the inside, where his fingers would gently pry my legs open an-

“Are you doing that on purpose?”

Opening my eyes, I looked over my shoulder questioningly to be met with an amused smile.

“Doing what?” I asked.

“Grinding yourself against me, it’s quite distracting.”

My eyes widen as my cheeks flush red, to try and hide my dismay I look away from him and cover my face with my hands to hide my embarrassment.

Now that I had been brought back to reality, I could feel the results of my hip rolling pressing against the crevice of my butt and my body reacted with another flush of intense arousal.

Loki chuckled deeply and moved away from me.

For a second, I thought that I had done something wrong and he was calling it a night.

As it turned out, Loki was merely putting the book down and I soon found myself being pulled against him, his fingers feeling along the stretch marks from my bump to my hip before moving down to my thigh.

“If you wanted to do something like that,” he murmured, pressing cold fingers against my inner leg and leading it to rest on his hip so that he could line himself up, “all you had to do was ask.”


	23. Home Truths

Watching myself being taken in a mirror wasn’t anything I had ever planned to experience in life, my low opinion of myself making that decision easy enough.

Though, thanks to Loki, it had become something to tick off of my bucket list.

His lips attacked my neck and he had me wrapped tightly in his arms, both of us keeping eye contact through the mirror as he thrust like a desperate animal rutting into its mate.

I’d never been good at kneeling for long periods, my knees would start to ache within a minute or so and the added weight on my stomach only made this worse but with Loki behind me, holding me in this position, the pleasure distracted me from the usual ache.

There was something about the couple being reflected at us that drove me to my climax faster.

I couldn’t explain it, but somehow the woman in the mirror didn’t feel like me.

She was what I could only explain as being a Goddess, full of confidence and holding herself with an assurance I’d never felt before in my life.

Loki stilled and buried his face into the crook of my neck, letting out a groan as he finished.

I watched as he pulled away, letting out ragged breaths against my neck while his hands roamed over the bump as it had many times since my arrival.

Leaning my back to his chest, I rest my head on his shoulder but keeping my eyes trained in the mirror opposite us.

“Loki,” I mewled as he pulled out, shifting around to lay us down so that we were spooning, his arm draped across my waist, “did you enchant that mirror?”

He lets out a low chuckle, his fingers drawing patterns along my hip and stomach.

“Not at all, as much as I’m sure Avena would appreciate that.”

My blood ran cold and I could only let out a small; “Hm.”

Loki sighed and propped himself up, pulling me further onto my back so that he could hover above me.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned her.”

“It’s all right.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Yes, Loki, it is,” I frowned shifting a little to get more comfortable while facing him, “she is your wife after all.”

He rolled his eyes and pulled away, moving to sit at the end of the bed with his arms resting on his thighs as he hung his head.

“Don’t remind me.”

Awkwardly, I managed to shift around onto my knees and crawl towards him.

Settling behind him, I wrap my arms around his shoulders and rest my head against his back.

“I shouldn’t get annoyed by hearing you talk about her, it’s stupid of me to think you wouldn’t.”

“No, it’s understandable,” he lifted one of his hands to clasp onto my own that lay against his chest, “after how I’ve been lavishing you since your arrival, it’s wrong of me to mention her.”

“That’s just how it is, it’s wrong of me to get irritated, we should be thankful she put us in this situation after all.”

“Yes,” he scoffed and I imagine rolled his eyes, “so that she could be a ‘mother’ to my heir and have a closer claim to a throne, this wasn’t for me, it was for her and she thinks I’m too stupid to realize.”

“But you went along with it.”

“And why wouldn’t I? I was being offered sex with a very attractive woman after being deprived for so long,” he chuckled, gently easing himself out of my arms so that he could twist to look at me, “why wouldn’t I go along?”

“Because now you’ve put yourself in a bind, she has tricked the kingdom.”

“Please, she’s tricked only the idiots who wouldn’t know any better, she is the fool if she believes her weak magic can hide the facts from my mother.”

I looked up at him, frowning a little.

“Frigga knows?”

“Of course she knows, nothing gets past her,” he smiled, “even my brother can tell, she’s not as sneaky as she thinks.”

“But if they all know, why are they going along with it?”

Loki looked down at me and sighed, taking one of my hands in his once again.

“We think she’s up to something and cutting ties now would be stupid, so we’ll let her have her fun and I shall have mine.”

He smirked darkly and pulled me closer, his hands cupping my sensitive chest as he kissed me.

We both broke away so that we could catch some air and Loki rested his forehead against mine, letting his eyes fall closed.

“I love you,” he whispered.

My heart jolted and my stomach flipped in giddy excitement.

My lips spread into a cheek-aching smile and I let out a small laugh.

“I love you too.”


	24. The Calm

“It was amazing Ezabella,” I sighed, running my hand over my stomach yet again, a growing habit that proved hard to resist. “He loves me.”

“Yeah, he’s also married to a psychopath who hired you to have his child.”

I looked at her and noted the frown that warped her beautiful features, her eyebrows furrowed and forehead creased while the edges of her lips were downturned.

It broke my heart to see, but I understood where she was coming from.

“I know, Eza.”

“Then don’t you think is all a bit convenient?”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on, you don’t think it’s weird that Avena is going to such lengths to have a baby? I get her being a shallow vámr, but what stopped her from going through this officially? There’s no shame in surrogacy, so why use a back-alley method when you have all the resources you could want at your disposal?”

“True, I get where you’re coming from.”

“What if this is some sick game to them? Loki has a reputation for being vile and less than conventional.”

“What kind of game?”

“Maybe,” Ezabella paused for a moment and sighed, shaking her head, “what if they hire vulnerable women in the same vein as you and enjoy manipulating them? Get jollies off of messing with their heads, all the while Loki gets some different sex and Avena can get her rocks off watching.”

I wrinkled my nose in distaste and chewed on my lip, frowning as I thought back to when Loki and I had conceived our…

No…

Their.

When we had conceived their child.

“He could have thousands of rejected children out there,” she continued, “and just as many broken hearted women.”

“He doesn’t.”

We both jolted and twisted in our chairs towards the door, Ezabella moving considerably more gracefully than myself.

Thor let out a soft laugh, the softest I had ever heard from him and held up a hand.

“I do apologize, I didn’t mean to startle either of you, I just couldn’t help overhearing your conversation in passing.”

“It’s all right,” I smiled, watching as he moved further into the room and closed the door behind himself.

“Listen,” he said, his blue eyes flickering between us both, “Loki may be many things but it’s not in his vein of trickery to go to these lengths.”

“So, what he said to me was genuine?”

Thor looked at me and smiled.

Curse him for having a smile that was quite contagious.

“I believe he has been far more genuine with you than he has with his own wife.”

“Do they even like each other?” Ezabella scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“I wouldn’t say so,” Thor shook his head then gave a light shrug of his muscular shoulders, “but it’s not for me to say, it is merely a marriage of convenience but there could be genuine emotions there after all.”

“Do people really believe Avena is pregnant?” Ezabella asked.

“To begin with, yes,” he nodded, taking a seat beside me on the blue-cushioned loveseat, “but some of us started to question things once she started showing.”

“Really?” I asked, tilting my head while shifting in my seat to face him better, “why?”

“There were,” he paused for a moment as if to consider his words before settling on, “inconsistencies.”

“Such as?” Ezabella spurred him on.

“Such as the size changing and I don’t mean as the months progressed, but sometimes it did from one set of attire to another, in one dress she would look humongous during the third month and then halfway through the fourth in another it would look considerably smaller.”

“That could be the cut of the dress,” she reasoned.

“Maybe, but this seemed too drastic, of course no one could say anything.”

“Of course,” I smiled, “it’s quite taboo to comment on a lady’s size at any time, but especially during pregnancy.”

Thor smile and dipped his head towards me in agreement.

“Quite right, then more of us started noticing other things, one guard even swear he saw her leaving a room with no signs of pregnancy at all as she left that palace for her trip.”

“Surely she wouldn’t have slipped up that badly,” I frowned.

“You wouldn’t think so, but there are other things people have picked up on,” Thor looked at me and gave me a sheepish look, “no offence meant here but you have been eating quite an amount.”

My cheeks flushed and heated quickly, burning a bright red.

“None taken?”

“Good, because it’s all because of how big the baby is, of course, but she seems to hardly touch food and she moves without issue where you already waddle.”

I groaned and buried my face in my hands, making them both laugh at my torment.

“Not to mention that both she and her ‘visiting friend’ fell pregnant at the same time? Those suspicions cemented it for me,” he continued, oblivious to my dying by embarrassment, “so I went to Mother and she confirmed my thoughts.”

I nodded slowly, biting on my lower lip.

“Is that why you’re here now?”

“No, I’m here because I finally want to feel my nephew move.”

“Let me guess,” Ezabella drawled, “you tried with Avena.”

“I did and felt nothing, but I was too afraid at that point to anything in case…”

As his sentence trailed off and he looked down in awkwardness, I reached over and took his wrist.

Shifting closer as best as I could, I set his large hand on my stomach and looked at him.

There was a pause of silence as we all waited, the more time that passed the more he started to frown.

“I don’t feel anything.”

“Just give him a minute, he’s been quite active all day, he’ll move.”

Thor nods and moves just a little closer to place his other hand on my stomach, a wide and eager smile on his face as he turns towards Ezabella.

“I have heard talk of you and Marnya courting during your visit.”

Ezabella’s eyes widened and she blushed but smiled fondly all the same as she twiddled with her hands and stared down at the floor by her feet.

“Uh, yeah, that would be true.”

“Wonderful!” He cried enthusiastically, “she is a wonderful girl, I think you’ll do each other a world of good.”

“Is it really okay for me to pursue a worker in the palace?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t it be?”

“Well, our job isn’t exactly stable,” Ezabella glanced at me and shifted in her seat uncomfortably, “or entirely legal sometimes.”

“What we do not know cannot hurt us,” Thor said, “as long as you do Marnya good, I am happy, she has served us well and I don’t wish to see her hurt.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Thor nodded, content with the answer, before jumping and letting out a small sound of excitement.

“He moved!” He yelled in his typically boisterous manner, “I felt him move.”

“I know, I felt it,” I laughed, rubbing the side of my bump where Thor’s hands weren’t, “I’m sure he heard you too.”

“They can?”

“I’ve heard so, but as this is my first child, I’m no expert.”

I didn’t think it was possible for Thor’s smile to get any wider, but somehow it did as he leaned down to get closer.

“Hello in there, little nephew, I’m your uncle, Thor, God of Thunder and I am going to spoil you rotten and show you the best ways to prank your father, you shall be my source of revenge.”

I laughed and leaned back comfortably as both me and Ezabella watched Thor talk to his nephew, telling stories of his youth with Loki and what adventures they got up to growing up together.

It was pleasant and more than I could ask for to make my stay close to perfection.


	25. The Storm

The sun was barely peeking over the horizon when I was jostled awake, harsh yells of my name pulling from the some of the best sleep I had had since the baby had grown so big.

“What?” I grumbled, opening my eyes to see the blurry figure of Loki looming over me, “what is it?”

“You have to get up and come with me.”

“Why?” I frowned, awkwardly pushing myself into sitting then rubbing my eyes.

“Don’t ask questions, just do it.”

Outside, someone ran past the door, yelling orders to another in a frantic manner as a thunder of footsteps echoed behind.

Loki’s eyes flickered towards the door and his expression was a momentary twist of anxiousness before going hard-set and full of determination, turning away from the bed he strode across the room and grabbed a green robe that I had discarded on the floor and threw it towards me on the bed.

“Loki, what is going on?” I asked in a sudden panic, moving as quickly as I could to get out of the bed and pull on the almost too sheer robe that was obviously more a piece for the bedroom than outside.

“I’ll explain, just come on.”

He took hold of my wrist, not gently but not too firmly and led me outside.

I struggled to keep up but did my best to without complaining, my worry over what was happening too great to want to interrupt his concentration.

As we entered the hallway that led to the main areas of the palace workers rushed past us in a flurry of panic, guards were trailing up and down the hall to bang on doors and order people to leave their occupied rooms or tasks to follow the crowd of concerned faces.

The whispers and mumbles of everyone heading in our direction collected into one low hum of sound, everyone trying to decipher what was happening.

An uncomfortable knot, that wasn’t pregnancy related for once, tightened in my stomach and I looked up at Loki who was focused dead ahead and weaving us through the crowd, he looked pensive and tense which put me further on edge but I didn’t dare distract him.

We continued on through the crowd in a tense silence that I wanted to break but was too fearful to.

After what felt like hours of walking, Loki led me through the main hall, which seemed considerably eerier when no one else was about to liven the place up, to a hidden doorway that was shielded from sight by blending into the wall so well you’d have to squint to see the difference, this door opened into a deep tunnel that I initially assumed to be a passage the servers used, instead down that tunnel was room.

Inside there was a small single person bed, another closed door and a set of books hung on the wall.

Gently, he eased me into sitting down on the bed and I felt the instant relief of taking the weight off my feet.

“You need to stay here,” he said softly, his eyebrows knitted together.

“What’s going on?”

“Asgard is under attack, this is one of many hidden rooms we use for only the more dire of situations and we can’t escape,” he glanced over his shoulder quickly before looking back at me, “usually under these circumstances we’d be getting everyone out, but I don’t think you’ll get far in your condition so we’re bringing you and your friend here.”

“But Loki-”

“You’ll both be safe, I promise.”

As if on cue, the door opened and Ezabella stepped inside looking ashen and terrified.

The guard who had led her looked to Loki and nodded, who gave a dip of his head in return before turning back to me.

“I have to go, you two stay here and I’ll come back for you.”

His reached out his hand and held onto the back of my neck as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to my forehead, then he pulled away, turned and left, sealing the door behind him.

“Well, this is something,” Ezabella said slowly, trying to make a little light of the situation despite the shakiness in her voice.

“You’re telling me,” I sighed, leaning back on one hand while the other cradled my bump.

“Do you think everything will be okay?” She moved towards the bed and sat down, perching on the end.

“I hope so.”

We fall silent, neither of us entirely sure what to say in this situation.

I strained my ears in the hopes of hearing something from outside, but nothing can be heard beyond our breathing and my own rapid heartbeat.

“Who do you think it would be?” Ezabella asks after a few painstaking minutes, one of us was bound to and it didn’t surprise me that it was the inevitable question that came up either.

“It could be anyone, Odin isn’t exactly known for his many friends among the other realms.”

“I suppose,” she stood up and started to pace, her fingers wringing the bottom of her tunic, “what if they all die and we get stuck in here? We’ll run out of entertainment, we have no food, we could run out of oxygen.”

“We will if you keep using up the air by rambling about unlikely possibilities.”

“I’m just worried,” she frowned, “I hope Marnya will be okay.”

She continued to pace back and forth, at first I couldn’t help but to watch her until I started to feel sick and had to turn my head away before motion sickness hit me hard.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine and you’ll be back to wooing her before you know it.”

Lying down on the bed, I closed my eyes and tried to relax, though it took a lot of effort to block out the worrying thoughts of what was happening outside that door.

I had never seen faces like that of the palace workers before and I had travelled to many impoverished areas who faced danger almost daily.

How big was the threat?

How long would we be stuck in here?

Would Loki be okay?

The bed dipped as Ezabella led down beside me, curling against my side and resting her head against my shoulder, something we did quite often at home.

Her hand came to rest on my bump and she slowly rubbed circles over it, possibly finding comfort in the repetitive motion.

“I’m scared.”

“We’ll be okay, Asgard is well guarded.”

“Not just that,” she shook her head slowly, “I’m scared of losing you.”

“Losing me?” I asked, tilting my head down to look at her, “why would you lose me?”

Tilting her head up to meet my gaze, her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

“Because it’s obvious that Loki loves you and you’re having his child, what if he wants to keep you here and I’m stuck alone in that rundown thing we call home?”

“So what if he loves me? He’s married and this child is going to be living a palace life with him and Avena.”

“You don’t really believe that, do you?”

“I have to, Eza, otherwise I’ll get my hopes up and have them dashed.”

“I told you this was a stupid idea,” she huffed.

I laughed softly and rested my head against hers, letting my eyes fall closed.

“You did, but it’s good money.”

“Even better if you marry Loki.”

“I’m not marrying Loki!” I rolled my eyes then moved away so that I could adjust our position into more of a hug with my arm around her so that I could place with her hair. “Besides, if I did then I’d be hiring you as my personal security.”

Ezabella laughed softly and nuzzled her head into my shoulder.

“Really?”

“Of course, this little guy needs his crazy aunt around to teach him all the things mummy can’t.”

She smiled and nodded, her eyes slowly closing as her breathing became calmer.

“Don’t worry, Ezabella, things will be fine and I’ll never leave you behind, I love you too much for that.”

With a small hum, she looked up at me with a withered smile, this was when I noticed just how tired she truly looked but I couldn’t tell if it was the emotional storm going through us both or the chaotic storm going on around us.

“I love you too, I always have.”


	26. Rude Awakening

I was jolted awake for the second time that morning, though this time the call of my name is gentler and the shake isn’t as harsh.

With another groan, I rubbed my eyes and glanced down at Ezabella, who had fallen asleep with her head resting on my swollen chest.

I didn’t recall falling asleep, the last thing I did remember was grabbing a book and lying down again so that I could read to Ezabella as we cuddled and attempted to keep our minds occupied.

Turning my head to the other side of the bed, I see Loki crouched besides me with his arms resting on top of the mattress.

He looked fine, disheveled with a cut on his right cheek, but otherwise fine.

“There we go,” he smiled tiredly while talking in a hushed whisper, “come on, you need to get up.”

“Is it over?” I asked, my voice still heavy with sleep.

“Not quite, but over enough for me to be able to get you out of here.”

I smiled widely and shifted, reaching over to give Ezabella a shake but Loki caught my wrist in his hand.

“No, I can only take you, someone else will come for her.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s still not great out there and I am already run down, looking out for one very fragile extra is bad enough but two is a risk I can’t take.”

With a frown, I glanced down at Ezabella then looked back at Loki.

“Can’t we wait until her escort arrives?”

“No, darling, we really don’t have time for this.”

My eyebrow wants to twitch upwards at the pet name, but I managed to keep my face straight until I forced a smile.

Darling?

Loki never called me anything like that unless he was being playful, but his tone was too soft and the situation was too dire for him to be using a pet name, typically it was something he would do when we were alone and he was trying to coax me into doing something in order to get his own way.

“I would rather stay here until her escort arrives.”

“That really isn’t an option.”

We had a silent stare down and I attempted to see something in his eyes that convinced me to drop my stubbornness and comply, but nothing spurred me to do so and I was beginning to question my own hesitance.

I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something didn’t feel right.

The air between us grew tense and eventually Loki’s expression hardened, his eyes narrowing.

“Fine,” he growled while standing.

Loki snapped his fingers and watched with a sickening smirk as the door was thrown open with a harsh bang and three guards in strange, black armour marched inside.

A yell of surprise had barely left me before Ezabella was viciously pulled away from me by one of the guards, who held tightly onto her arm while a second one grabbed the other.

Ezabella hadn’t a chance to even wake up and comprehend what was happening before she was being dragged out of the room, she’d only just woken up enough to kick and try to protest before she was taken from my sight.

Her yells of protest gradually disappeared and all fell silent as I was left alone with Loki and the remaining guard.

“What in all of Helheim was that?” I cried, looking at Loki in shock and disbelief.

“I said that it was urgent, perhaps next time you’ll listen to me.”

He looked towards the guard and briefly jutted out his chin in a silent signal which obviously meant something to the burly man, as he wasted no time in stepping forward and practically ripping me out of bed.

An involuntary scream left me as my legs collided painfully with the floor, though he paid no mind and simply pulled me up onto my feet like I were a ragdoll.

“Stand,” he snarled, his voice nothing but bass and growl.

“Where have you taken Eza?” I yelled, wanting to struggle but fearing for the worst if I even attempted it.

“Nowhere that you need to be concerned about,” Loki shrugged uncaringly, “she’ll be fine, you’re the one I needed to separate.”

I shook my head, refusing to believe the implications that he was attempting to lay out in front of me but some things were undeniable and I found that I needed to air my thoughts.

“You planned this attack.”

“Of course I did,” he chuckled, moving around the bed to stand in front of me, “wouldn’t be the first one I’ve planned or executed either, people just seem to like falling into traps.”

From his armour he produced a silver bladed dagger which had writing I couldn’t read carved from the hilt to the point while the black hilt was decorated with a set of red gems that reflected the light above us menacingly.

He pressed the point of the blade under my chin to force my head up, making sure that our eyes met as the sharp point dug in ever so slightly.

The twisted smirk told me that he was enjoying this.

“You never struck me as a sadist,” I said, looking down at the dagger that was pressing against my skin enough to sting.

“There are many things you don’t know about me, dear.”

I grimaced and stared back with a hardened look which I prayed wasn’t as weak as it felt.

“I know enough to know that you aren’t Loki.”

One of his eyebrows quirked and he chuckled, tilting his head just a little.

“Oh?”

“No,” I wanted to shake my head, but resisted to save cutting my throat further, “he’d never lower himself to such cowardice.”

Loki’s smirk turned into a grin as he laughed a chillingly mad laugh, one that had him throwing his head back before snapping it back to me, leaning in closer so that his breath ghosted across my face.

“Is that so? I’m a coward?” He asked, pressing the dagger just a little harder and making me wince, “you have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Apparently I know more than you want me to,” I said slowly, closing my eyes to block out the maddened look in his eyes.

Loki or not, it was a terrifying expression to see on him.

He laughed again and stepped back, pulling the dagger away from my neck so that the air caused the small cut to sting just a bit worse.

“You don’t know anything, what I’ve been through to get here,” his tone was bitter and cold.

I opened my eyes to see him staring at me with a look as cold as his voice.

“I know that you’re a terrible actor who can’t replicate Loki to save their life.”

He stared at me with a look of sheer hatred and then the blade of the dagger quickly dropped and started to trace over my bump, where a moving hand or foot was visible.

“Keep talking like that and I may just have to carve the little one out,” he chuckled, his eyes never leaving mine as he pressed the dagger a little harder, “it’ll save you the suffering of dying while trying to push it out.”

“Is that why you wouldn’t have it yourself?”

He shrugged and stepped back again, admiring the light cuts that he’d decorated my stomach with.

“Maybe, maybe not, I have plenty of reasons for what I do and I can tell you now that I won’t be explaining here.”

Finally, he tore his eyes away from me and looked at the guard, indicating towards the doorway.

“You know where to take her, I want it out of my sight until I’m ready.”

The guard gave a grunted response and tightened his already harsh grip on my arm then he turned and dragged me out of the room.

From the corner of my eye, just before being pulled out of sight, I saw Loki standing and watching with a smug grin while pricking one of his fingertips with the point of the dagger as he twisted it back and forth.


	27. Take it to Your Grave

My feet ached due to the manner in which I was being dragged, the bare soles scuffing harshly against the floor on occasion and the heels getting scraped when I’d stumble and the guard would pull me straight onto my feet with a harsh tug.

Despite the situation, I had to commend the guard of his strength.

I was unceremoniously pulled through the palace and back towards Loki’s room, the building eerily silent now that next to no one was inside and so quiet that I could have believed that my own breathing would echo around the walls.

I hadn’t bothered with any attempts to get away from the guard’s grip, unsure of what I would do if I managed to.

Not only was I heavily pregnant, making running a bit of a task, but I was also unarmed and stood no chance against a man who I had no reason to doubt would be fine with bouncing me off the walls if need be.

Stopping outside Loki’s door, he pulled it open so harshly that it could have come off the hinges and pushed me inside, his too firm grip remained at the top of my arm as he stepped in behind me.

Kicking the door shut, he turned me towards the bed and used his other hand to force my head to look at it.

“Look at your prince,” he chuckled, a deep and unpleasant sound that reverberated down my spine, “not so high and mighty now, is he?”

Displayed in front of me was Loki, naked and bound.

His arms and legs were splayed open and attached to the bedposts with chains that shone with red runes, immediately putting the dagger I’d been threatened with to mind, his head hung towards his chest and his hair was matted with blood.

One of his eyes was purple and swollen closed, the cheek underneath taking a matching purple and blue tone and he had a few cuts that were still seeping blood which decorated his pale skin, including a deep one that was harsh red on his lip.

He’s still breathing, his chest is slowly rising and falling which is a small element of relief.

The only thing covering his modesty was one of his older helmets, which sat over his exposed genitals like a crass display of humiliation.

It wrenched my heart to see him in such a state and I choked on a gasp that arose in the back of my throat.

“What did you do to him?” I whispered, unable to tear my eyes away.

“Nothing he didn’t deserve for fighting back, he could have made it easier on himself but we all know that ain’t his way, is it?”

The guard grabbed hold of the sheer robe I had on and tugged until it came off, leaving me in only my underwear then shoves me towards the bed so hard that it takes me a few stumbles to stop myself from falling and shattering the world I had come to know, not that he would have cared.

With a smirk, he stared down at me and then looked at the bed.

“Get on.”

“Excuse me?”

“Get on the bed,” he repeated slowly, as if I were dense and not just confused about everything that was going on.

I didn’t dare argue with him, our positions of power were too outmatched and I knew that it would be foolish of me to resist, no matter how much I wanted to.

Slowly walking over to the bed, I awkwardly climbed on while trying to navigate around my own bump and Loki’s long legs before settling on my knees at the end.

Once I was settled down as comfortably as I could get, the guard strode across the room to stand behind me.

Loki stirred as the bed moved and lifted his head a little, letting a bit of blood dribble from his mouth while opening his good eye to make contact with me just as the guard clasped a chain around my neck, catching a few strands of my hair painfully in the lock.

Loki gave a wry and withered smile while laughing out my name, his eyes falling to one side and his eye closed again, that small effort being too much.

“You finally made it to the party,” he rasped, his sentence broken with ragged gasps.

“Not willingly,” I frowned, looking him over, “are you okay?”

“I’m fine, these are merely superficial wounds,” he opened his eye again and gave me another tired smile, “though the blow to the head got me good.”

That explained the blood that was matted into his hair.

“What’s happening?”

“Avena,” he drawled out with a slur to his voice.

“So I was right.”

The door opened again and Avena strolled in still using Loki’s visage to smirk at us, she shot a look at the guard who nodded and stepped outside, letting the door fall closed behind him.

Once the door was closed and the lock clicked into place, she finally dropped the illusion and stood at the side of the bed in all her glory.

“Isn’t this sweet?” She sneered, looking between us both, “lovers reunited one again, like a little romance story.”

“What are you playing at?” Loki asked weakly, his arms tugging on his bindings.

Her eyes flickered to the chains and she grinned, the runes shining a brighter red as he moved, the metal digging into his wrists.

“Do you like them? They can be quite power inhibiting if enchanted with the right runes.”

Loki glared at her, a cold look that would send a shiver down anyone’s spine.

Only Avena seemed unphased, she put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes while smiling too widely.

“I thought you’d be happy, back with your little side piece.”

Avena moved around the bed to sit at a chair by the window, going back to twirling the knife against her fingers as she crosses one leg over the other.

“She’s not my side piece,” Loki protested.

My eyes flickered to him, waiting for him to continue talking but he doesn’t, he’s too busy keeping a steely gaze on her.

I didn’t know how I was supposed to take that but decided that now wasn’t the time for me to dwell in the technicalities of his statement, I would find out later in which sense he meant it.

“No? Because you sure seem to have gotten attached, unless she’s here for an early checkup.”

“Perhaps she is.”

“Except I know that she isn’t, this is no longer some dirty little secret.”

Avena glared at me and then at Loki, her teeth gritting beneath her painted lips.

“Why are we chained up?” I asked, my voice finally finding the strength to raise louder than a whisper.

She shrugged, her thin shoulders raising and falling smoothly.

“You’re going to put on a show for me.”

“A show?” Loki repeated, his face contorting in confusion.

“Oh yeah,” Avena nodded, another sly smirk slipping into place.

Getting up from her seat, she sauntered over to us and stood where the guard had been behind me.

There’s a pausing moment where none of us speak, I’m staring at Loki who is staring over my shoulder at Avena.

I tensed up when I feel the cold blade press against the center of my back and she hummed while dragging the dagger up as I try to arch away from the sharpness of it.

Then I feel a tugging on my bra and realize what she is doing.

The fabric put up less resistance than I had anticipated and soon the support the bra once offered loosened and Avena ripped the tatters away from me before attacking my matching underwear.

Peeling those away, she threw the torn clothes to one side, used the dagger to tuck some of my hair away from my ear and then pressed the point of the dagger into the back of my neck.

Leaning closer, she whispered so closely that her breath tickled my ear uncomfortably.

“Fuck him.”

Taking a deep and shuddered breath, I looked at her from the corner of my eye.

“What?”

“Fuck him, ride him until he tells you he loves you,” she paused to reach over and take the helmet from his crotch to expose him fully, a further act of humiliation to us both, “like he did the other morning.”

I watched her carefully from the corner of my eye, frowning.

How could she have possibly known?

Flashes of that morning bounced back into my head, small snippets of memories.

Of waking up beside him.

Of our confessions.

Of the shimmer to the mirror I watched him take me in.

“The mirror,” I gasped, my eyes widening.

“That’s right,” she chuckled lowly, her hand taking place of the blade at the back of my neck so that she could grasp on tightly and force me forward, “I was watching through the mirror.”


	28. Harsh Reality

“I knew there was something happening with that mirror.”

“And you were right, funny how you picked up on it but my seiðr using husband didn’t, hm? Well, not that he can use anything as long as these are attached to him,” Avena tugged on one of the chains binding Loki to the bed, shaking his leg violently in the process.

The sneer in her voice made me cringe, the cocky and arrogant tone she’d been using had become grating and uncomfortable to listen to the more she talked.

“You’ve completely lost it.”

Avena looked at Loki, her eyes piercing as she grinned.

“Maybe I have, maybe I didn’t or maybe I never had it.”

Loki rolled his eyes, dropping his head down onto his pillow with a pained groan.

“Evil doesn’t suit you.”

“But crazy bitch does, that’s why you fell for me in the first place.”

Loki scoffed and let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head slowly.

“You know I never fell for you, this was a marriage of convenience more than anything.”

Avena’s face turned in an instant, one minute it had been a mocking sneer and the next her expression was nothing short of angered hatred.

“You loved me once, I know you did.”

Loki sneered at her, a mocking grin that made even my heart pang despite that it wasn’t being aimed towards me.

“I’m the God of Lies, you know what I want you to know.”

An almost inhuman screech came from Avena and the point of her brandished dagger dug harder into the back of my neck, making me wince and attempt to arch away from it.

“Tell me the truth or she’ll bleed out,” she snarled through gritted teeth.

“We both know this was a marriage of convenience,” he said, glaring at her, “why are you acting as if this is all news? You never loved me in the first place, this was all a convenient way to get a throne and a title.”

“I don’t want your throne, Loki, I want your life.”

“My life?” He laughed, “why? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly the favoured child of the bunch.”

“And yet you still have a home, a realm, whereas your father destroyed mine entirely.”

“As he has with many others, I don’t speak for him so punishing me will do you no good apart from perhaps making you feel a little better.”

“I didn’t want to punish you,” she snarled, pushing the tip in that much deeper, “I just wanted to integrate into a realm and rub it into Odin’s face that my kind was still around.”

Loki’s eyes narrowed and he pulled on his binds as I whimpered in pain, the sting of the blade mixing with the heat of the blood that tickled my back as it trailed down slowly.

I had to lean forward to get away from the point, my already aching thighs not enjoying the weight shift as my bump pulled harder on my muscles and made my back start to ache in the position I was sat in.

“I thought that marrying you would knock him a few paces.”

“And you thought wrong, Thor is the favourite, marrying him would have been a kicker,” he glanced her over and then shrugged, “at least it would if you were actually significant.”

“I’d watch what you’re saying, in case you haven’t noticed, I have your surrogate in a rather compromising position.”

Avena shook her head, her eyes almost glazed over in pure madness as she stared at Loki in disgust.

“Your surrogate, she stopped being mine the second you slept with her behind my back.”

“Are you really that surprised? You neglected my needs for months, you were never around and when you were it was like talking to a brick wall and then you decide to introduce another person into our marriage? What did you expect to happen?”

“Not this!”

We share a bewildered look at her outburst.

Although she had proven to be less than stable already, her cry sounded both manic and pained and it admittedly made me fill with guilt despite the situation she currently held us in.

It was obvious to me that she knew her mistake, that she played a part in her husband’s infidelity and that it tore her up inside.

While the circumstances weren’t surprising, the results were still devastating.

Perhaps even she hadn’t anticipated the outcome and she did truly feel for Loki more romantically than anyone could have estimated, yet here we were, she the victim of an affair to a husband who felt unloved and sought attention from the surrogate mother of their child.

What a twisted tale that would make in a book.

It wasn’t as much fun, however, when you were stuck in the middle of it and worried for the life of the child you were growing.

Somehow, I had thought of many outcomes and emotions that could have been trudged up because of this and yet, it never struck me that Avena could harbor deep feelings for the husband she had apparently spent so much time away from and that raised more questions than it answered.

“Did you set us up?” I asked, glancing at her over my shoulder.

“You could say that,” she answered, “I had legitimate reasons for leaving, but I enchanted the mirror before leaving because I had my suspicions.”

I glanced at Loki, panicked and wanting nothing more than for this to be over.

“Perhaps we can come to an arrangement? I’ll leave, I’ll forget everything.”

“It’s too late,” she shook her head and the dagger was moved around to press into my chest, “the damage is done.”

Avena applied pressure to the knife, cutting diagonally across my collarbone as she laughed at my pain.

Gritting my teeth, I closed my eyes to try and ignore the rising pain that felt like it would never end.

Until the pressure alleviated suddenly.

In one, too quick to process fully moment, the pressure was gone, Avena was flying across the room and the blade had clattered to the floor.


	29. Saviour

Both Loki and I followed Avena’s path across the room, watching as she was painfully smashed through the bedroom wall and left unceremoniously slumped in the corridor as Mjolnir lifted back through the damage and returned to Thor’s outstretched hand.

“You really know how to pick them, don’t you brother?”

Loki sighed and rolled his good eye, though he couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

“This is what?” Thor continued, walking towards the bed while eyeing the hole in the wall, “the fourth time I’ve had to save you from someone who had to tied naked to the bed?”

“The first two times were completely non-consensual.”

“And this time?”

“I at least know this one.”

Thor glanced at me and smiled charmingly, though it also seemed a little apologetic.

Unclipped his cape, he carefully draped it over my shoulders so that I could hold it closed at my front.

“Sorry that I must see you in such a state of undress.”

“It’s okay,” I smiled back shyly, looking away. “Will she be all right?”

“Of course she will be, we just have to wait for her to get up,” he shrugged and looked towards the hole in the wall, wincing, “if she gets up.”

From outside the room, guards storm down the corridor and I see two of them pulling Avena to her feet, she’s evidently still out cold as her head hangs down to her chest.

“Take her to one of the cells so that she can await her sentence.”

The guards bow and trudge off, leading Avena away.

My cheeks start glowing as I realize just what is about to happen.

Loki seems to realize too as his eyes widen and he looks from me, to Thor to the door.

“Don’t let her in!”

The bedroom door opened and Frigga stepped inside, letting it fall closed behind her as she walked over, hands clasped in front of her.

“Oh, Loki,” she smiled, “don’t act like it’s anything I haven’t seen, who do you think changed you when you were younger?”

Loki let out a mortified groan and dropped his head back with his eyes as tightly screwed shut as he could get them, his cheeks burning a bright red.

“You should have let her kill me.”

Had it not been so embarrassing to also be nude in front of the All-Mother I would have laughed.

Loki, the great God who took pride in his body and openness, was just as shy as most when it came to being nude with his mother present.

Something about that was adorable.

Then again, his entire relationship with Frigga was.

“You apprehended her quickly,” I commented, trying to distract from the situation.

“She wasn’t hard to figure out, dear,” Frigga smiled, “we were well prepared to defend ourselves against them once everyone was taken to safety.”

“And who were ‘they’, exactly?” Loki asked.

“Just some stragglers from various realms your father has had issues with, you know how it is.”

“I’m surprised there wasn’t a larger army in that case,” he drawled out.

“Some of your father’s enemies have sense, but we shall be thoroughly interrogating each of them in hopes of learning about any other possible plans.”

Frigga stepped up beside Loki’s shoulder, one hand running down the length of the chain that was sealed around one of his wrists.

Loki tilted his head to watch her, his lifting a soft pleading.

“Can you get these off of me?”

Looking down at her son, she smiled.

“I believe that I can, it’s a simple set of magic when you have access to your seiðr.”

“Rub it in, why don’t you?”

“I believe I am,” Frigga laughed softly, her eyes shining with mirth, “and then it’s perhaps time for us all to sit down and have a discussion about your marriage.”


	30. Impending Changes

The following few hours after the attack were hectic for the royals, leaving me and Ezabella to settle into the quiet as others went to their own rooms to retire for the night.

I sat on Loki’s bed, my back resting against the headboard while Ezabella sat in the middle with her legs crossed, her hands resting on her ankle.

The quite of the room was thick but comfortable, both of us run down by the events but not wanting to sleep in the fear of missing any news, though I knew that Loki would most likely wake me up and give me any updates.

Ezabella had calmed significantly since learning that both I and her beloved Marnya were perfectly fine, if not a little humiliated on my end.

“Tonight has been insane, I’ve never felt so tired and energized before in my life,” she laughed softly, her smile matching her stated conflicted feelings.

“I know what you mean,” I returned her smile, “this was worse than that job we took together on the outskirts of Helheim.”

“Don’t even get me started on that,” Ezabella rolled her eyes, though her smile widened, “you should be resting.”

“As should you.”

“I’m not the one carrying a half-Jotun.”

“True,” I hummed, rubbing my swollen belly, “honestly I’m surprised I still am, I thought she was going to try and cut him out of me.”

Ezabella frowned and moved forward, taking hold of one of my hands and giving it a comforting squeeze.

“Don’t think like that.”

“It’s hard not to,” I sighed, meeting her eyes, “she was kind of nuts but her emotions were complicated.”

“As most emotions are, doesn’t mean you can just kidnap people and humiliate them over your own plan.”

I nodded slowly and gave her a faint smile.

“I know, I understand the entire situation is a whole mess of bad ideas and misplaced emotions, there is no way I can justify what she did.”

The quiet falls over us again and I begin to feel my eyes starting to droop, the exhaustion of the events and pregnancy finally kicking in and letting me sleep.

At a snail’s pace, I shuffled my legs underneath the covers and then slowly slid down so that I was lying as comfortably as I could.

Ezabella leaned over and grabbed my pregnancy pillow from beside the bed, pulling the covers away from me with a smile and helping me tuck it into place before moving the cover back over like a proud mother with her daughter.

“Have I ever told you that you are beautiful as a mother?” She smiled kindly, her hand running over my bump.

“You haven’t,” I said tiredly, placing my hand over hers.

“I should have, it’s cliché I know, but there really is a glow about you.”

“Is it brighter now?”

“The brightest.”

“I think that’s because I get to be his mother and his mum.”

“Maybe so.”

Ezabella nodded and then leaned in, we shared a quick peck of a kiss then she ran her hand over my hair and got up from the bed.

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Eza,” I practically whisper, my eye falling shut of their own accord to sooth the ache from my forcing them to stay open.

I heard her pad across the room, open the door and step out, she must have also turned out the light as the darkness behind my closed eyes turned into more of a void.

Strange, though not unpleasant, dreams invaded me that night.

One of those dreams that wasn’t my life and yet somehow it was.

It was comfortable, though we lived in a considerably small hut made of ice with too many children of varying ages to count, it made me feel warm and fluttery even in my sleep.

Loki was just teaching one of our teen daughters how to properly secure a corset when I was jolted awake, a particularly violent kick from the inside instantly making me wake up with a wet patch between my legs.

Or if anyone asked, I would claim it was brought on by a kick.

It was embarrassing to say the least, but at least I was awakened enough to act on it, even if the jolt had been particularly stiff and jarring.

Luckily the sun was beginning to rise and I was in bed by myself.

Seems as though Loki was still in a meeting about the aftermath of Avena’s planned attack, bless him.

“He’s going to be exhausted,” I said to myself while awkwardly climbing out of bed.

With a lot of effort and breaks, I managed to strip Loki’s large bed and bundled up the sheets in my arms to discard of them discreetly.

I was so close to making it scot-free without being caught, I had managed to slip the sullied sheets into the washing basket for the maids in the morning and was kneeling on the bed to scrub at the mattress beneath when Loki walked in and froze, looking over in tired bemusement before realization gradually kicked in.

“Have bit of an accident, did we?” He laughed faintly as the door closed behind him.

My cheeks flared up and I looked at him helplessly as he neared the edge of the bed, his eyes sunken with dark circles.

“Nothing big, just a small strip but that was nasty enough.”

Loki smiled and shook his head, reaching out to take hold of the wrist of the hand that held the wet sponge.

“It doesn’t matter, it happens, come on.”

He helped me off the bed and led me into the bathroom.

Once we were inside, he pulled away and took the sponge from me, throwing it into the nearby sink he then turned to the bath and leaned over to put the plug in, the taps squeaked as he turned them and he paused for a moment while watching the water cascade in.

I watched curiously as he stood up straight and started to discard of him armour, each piece that dropped to the floor seemed to alleviate the weight on his shoulders.

When he was down to his underwear, Loki turned to face me and raised an eyebrow, his eyes slowly moving up and down my body.

“Yes?” I asked, suddenly feeling a little self conscious.

“You’re still dressed.”

“Of course I am.”

“You plan to bathe while fully clothed?”

“I wasn’t aware that the bath was intended for us both.”

Loki’s lips quirked into a slight smirk and he turned off the taps then walked to me, stopping before me so that he could fiddle with the front of my clothes his fingers easily unfastening the clasps of the nightdress I had changed into.

“All of us,” he corrected, slipping the nightdress away from my shoulders so that it would fall to the floor, “a family bath, just the three of us.”

His cool hands moved to my bump as he pressed a kiss to my now bare shoulder.

“There’s going to be a big change in dynamics around here,” he murmured against my skin, trailing butterfly kisses up towards the bottom of my jaw, “but first we need to wash and rest.”

“Will you tell me about the meeting?”

Loki sighed softly and pulled away, moving back towards the tub while discarding his underwear.

“Tomorrow,” he said, stepping into the water and looking at me over his shoulder, “for now, I just want to forget about Avena, her upcoming trial and everything else that isn’t you, me and our baby.”


	31. Where Do We Go From Here?

Things had settled significantly over the week and gradually everything seemed to ease back into the usual routine, the main difference now was that Loki was openly more affectionate towards me and we both knew that an impending conversation was needed to be had, we just needed to start the process of beginning to discuss how to progress forward.

“Enough rumours have been circulating as it is,” he had said one night as we cuddle in front of the fireplace in his library, his hand rubbing circles over my stomach as our boy moved as if he were tracking his father’s fingers.

“Such as?” I asked, keeping my eyes closed as I rested my head on his chest.

“Where do I begin?” He huffed out a laugh.

“The most absurd one?”

“That it’s all fake and I set this entire thing up, including staging a wedding to a fake bride, in order to create a bit of drama around this boring place.”

I laughed, shaking my head.

“Some people.”

“I know,” he agreed, “there’s another saying that I was involved in Avena’s plan of taking over, a fair few don’t believe the baby is mine or it is but not yours.”

I frowned in confusion and tilted my head to look up at him.

“Would you care to elaborate?”

He smiled and kissed my forehead before continuing.

“People think that Avena was the one who got pregnant and that she didn’t want to carry the baby, so she called in you as a friend and confidant to carry it for her by some weird magical transferal.”

“And you said the other one was the more absurd.”

“It is to me.”

“More absurd than magically transferring a baby?”

I felt Loki shrug behind me.

“I have witnessed many weird things in my life.”

“I’m sure.”

“Your tone sounds believable,” he chuckled, “but the main story going around is fairly on point, though most think that it was merely a threesome gone wrong with a friend and that you both got pregnant so we tried to hide the truth with our cover story.”

“That is pretty close, I have to give them that, too bad the situation is always more complicated.”

“Very much so, but it’s entertaining to hear.”

The crackling of the fire fills an otherwise silent room as we quieted and continued to sit in comfort, me sitting between Loki’s legs as he kept me wrapped up securely in his arms, both of the books we had picked out at the beginning of our planned quiet evening being left on the table forgotten.

It was a strange situation.

Settling into this near calm and openness about ourselves compared to how it was merely days ago, when we had to sneak around and keep everything a secret, it was a relief and a large weight felt like it had been lifted off of my shoulders.

There was undeniably a certain thrill to being so hush hush about it all, it was a sordid affair that was nothing but a cheap adrenaline boost, but the further along I got the more tiring it became and I hadn’t realised just how tiring it was until I experienced a life of no longer having to hide.

It was nice, strange but nice.

“What happened with Avena?” I finally asked.

Although only a week had passed, Odin had spared no time in getting her trialled and sentenced.

The hearing had been a small affair with only the key players being present and everyone else had been kept in the dark, though it was suspected that eventually word would get out.

Loki let out a long sigh and his hand stilled on the top of my bump.

“She is to serve a sentence of five years in Asgard’s cells and then she shall be stripped of her magic and exiled to the most isolated outskirts of Helheim.”

“Oh,” I said, barely above a whisper, “that seems a little harsh.”

“Harsh is Odin’s way, being honest she got off lightly, though she won’t should she try anything after her exile.”

“I suppose it’s fair in its way,” I sighed.

In the flickering light of the fire I looked down at where his hand lay, fingers curving over the swelling as if he were holding a world in his hand.

“We need to think of a name,” I said, wanting to change the subject even though I had been the one to bring it up.

“That we do,” Loki agreed, “have you thought of anything?”

“No, I’ve been a little caught up in the whirlwind of everything,” I smiled faintly and ran my fingers over his long ones, “besides, I didn’t think it would be my place to pick one, he wasn’t going to be my son.”

“Nonsense,” he scoffed, moving his hand so he was holding mine with laced fingers, “no matter how this would have played out, you would always be his mother on some way.”

I couldn’t even begin to explain the flutter in my heart and stomach, but it made me smile widely as everything buzzed.

“That means a lot to me.”

“Good,” he kissed the side of my head before resting his own against it, “we should make an announcement.”

I laughed and looked at him from the corner of my eye.

“For what?”

“The truth, we should gather everyone we can and explain the truth.”

“You think that’s a good idea?”

“I feel it would be best to clear the air of rumours before he arrives.”

“That is true, I like your thinking.”

“I should hope you do, perhaps by then we will have come up with a name for him and we can announce that along with anything else that may come to mind.”

“I certainly hope so,” I smiled, “maybe something like Vanimir.”

“Vanimir,” Loki murmured, his chin resting on my shoulder as he gently rocked us from side to side, “Vanimir Lokison, I like that.”


	32. And Life Goes On

No announcement had been made by the time I was halfway through my sixth month and by this point I was barely able to stand for long periods due to my size, sometimes walking from one end of the room to the other felt like a chore and my feet swelled tremendously and I got winded from what felt like the shortest amount of time spent stood up.

The weight of our baby was putting significant strain on my back and Loki had decided it best to send someone out to find a transportable chair for me, something to make it easy for me to be wheeled around the palace.

Thor knew of just the thing and after a quick trip to Midgard, he returned with a contraption he called a wheelchair which wasn’t the most comfortable of seats, but it did help alleviate the weight from my ankles.

Loki grumbled that there were things just as viable in Asgard, but Thor had only smiled and said to consider it an aiding gift from a soon-to-be Uncle.

It had been decided only two weeks after the attack that it was best for me to move in with him permanently, something I was definitely grateful for now that things were getting harder the further along I got in my pregnancy.

Ezabella had been given a job as my personal carer, another finalised decision made by Loki to keep us close and to give us both a stable living condition in these trying times.

The thought of shifting positions so quickly was jarring.

We both had spent so long as travelling, odd-job women with varying income that the thought of settling down in a singular place that was more luxurious than our occasional treat tavern dinners that we would go out for when we had a spare bit of money was peculiar.

He’d arranged for our miniscule number of personal items to be brought from our small hut and I would be lying if I said that I hadn’t cried at seeing my things intermixed with his own items in his, apparently now our, bedroom.

Oh, the joy of hormones.

Everything that was once Avena’s had been removed, possibly even destroyed, and all traces of her had been scrubbed away.

That was including any enchantments that she had placed around the room, including on the mirror.

It was like a fresh start.

Over time Loki got progressively more open with me and displaying affection in front of others, never anything beyond an embrace, a caress of my stomach or a chaste kiss, but enough for others to pick up that we were considerably more serious than they had initially given us credit for.

There was something territorially nice about having others know that he was mine, this baby was his and we weren’t going to be swayed.

I couldn’t say that I hadn’t had times where I’d worried that history would repeat itself.

What if we got married and the idea sparked to bring someone else in?

What if his eye wandered?

There were so many stunning women in Asgard and I was getting stretched further out of shape and covered in more marks by the week.

At times I felt ugly and insecure, especially when my dresses had to be altered once again to make room for my ever-expanding bump and hips or due to another bout of swelling in my already considerably heftier chest, but Loki had taken to letting me know just how much he loved it all.

It could sometimes come across as sexually aggressive, almost animalistic, but he would regularly hold me by my hips as he was buried inside of me and growl or pant words of admiration in my ear as he bucked wildly, like a desperate man deprived of sex.

“I love having these to hold onto, I wish I could keep you like this forever.”

There were softer times as well, when we would cuddle in bed in a position where he was the supporting pillow for the bump and he was run his hands over my skin, feeling the dips of stretchmarks and the added podge on the sides of my hips.

“I mean it when I say I love this,” he smiled almost proudly, “there’s something amazing to think that you’re carrying my child, something we created together, I love it, I love you.”

He really knew how to cheer me up.

Loki had been nothing short of amazing throughout the whole thing, even during the more secretive of times and I could never express just how much it meant to me, especially when he didn’t hold my mood swings against me.

“He is just astounding,” I sighed, sipping from my teacup.

Frigga smile proudly, in a way that only a mother could.

In a way that I was certain that I would when our boy grew up to be an amazing man.

I had been invited to afternoon tea with the All-Mother and I hadn’t hesitated in saying yes, I adored Frigga and spending time with her was always a valuable passage of time.

“I like to think that I did a good job raising him,” she replied, giving me a cheeky smile.

“Oh, you definitely did.”

“You are quite taken with him, it’s nice to see him being appreciated.”

“Avena didn’t?”

“She did at one point, though I can’t say how certain I am that that was true and not some game,” her smile saddened a little before she perked up and waved a hand in the air, “but we aren’t here to talk about her, this is about you, my son and his son.”

I laughed, setting my cup down and moving the plate which held the most gorgeous and fluffiest looking chocolate cake that I had ever seen.

“You seem to like saying that.”

“How can I not? I’m going to be a grandparent, it’s very exciting, having another little one to spoil.”

“As if Loki isn’t going to be bad enough,” I smiled, separating a piece of the cake from the rest with a fork.

“He is going to be a spoiled child, just as the others that you have.”

I spluttered on my cake as the surprise caused a falter in my swallowing, a less than graceful move that couldn’t be recovered by my use of a napkin to wipe my mouth and cover my coughing.

“Others?” I choked out.

“Yes,” she smiled at me unphased, “you’re not going to just stop at one, surely?”

“We haven’t discussed it,” I coughed, taking a sip from my tea to try and clear the tickle in my throat.

“I so hope you will, then I can make some more of these.”

Leaning over in her seat, Frigga plucked a box from seemingly nowhere and held it over the table for me.

I looked between the box and her hesitantly, taking the box uncertainly.

“You really didn’t have to get anything.”

“Of course I did,” she answered as if I had said the most absurd thing she’d ever heard, “consider it a baby shower present.”

“Baby shower?” I asked, looking at her curiously.

“A Midgardian tradition, Thor has been learning a lot during his visitations and has also been relaying information, he is very excited to be an uncle.”

I nodded in understanding as I carefully took off the emerald green ribbon.

“Is that what’s in here?” I laughed, carefully plucking the lid off of the box, “a book you’ve written on the teachings from Midgard.”

“Not at all,” Frigga laughed softly, “though that is definitely an idea for the future grandchildren.”

The urge to roll my eyes good naturedly was strong, but I managed to suppress it and instead felt them widen as I saw what was nestling inside the black box.

I glanced at Frigga with my mouth agape then looked down again as I delicately lifted the article of clothing from its container.

In my hands was a hand knitted, miniature version of Loki’s signature black, green and gold tunic, complete with a green cape and a little yellow horned hat that could be detached.

My eyes stung as I stared at the present, my lip quivering.

“I do hope you like it.”

“I love it,” I managed to gasp out, hugging it to my chest, “thank you so much, Frigga.”

“Don’t mention it, my dear,” she said, still holding that elegant and warm motherly smile.

“I can never repay your kindness,” I said, wiping the tears away from my eyes.

“And you don’t have to,” she shook her head, reaching over the table to take one of my hands, “all I ask if that you make my son very happy…and that maybe you put that on your own on your wedding day.”

I could only cough out a laugh and nodded, smiling at her as tears rolled down my cheeks.

“I don’t know when that will happen, but I promise that I will.”


End file.
